Dreams can come true?
by icarus1995
Summary: Penny has been dreaming about a mystery man for months, possibly years, what will she do when she finds out this guy is her nerdy neighbor, Sheldon? will she be able to come to terms with these new feelings and will Sheldon ever be able to return them? all the while she is stuck in her dead end relationship with Leonard
1. Chapter 1

**Dreams can come true?**

**A/N: hey all this is gonna be a little bit of a long note, but just a quick explanation of writing technique that needs an explanation. I've had this idea of using a dream of Penny's to bring her and Sheldon closer together and had it originally planned as an ending to another story I had written, but couldn't make it work with what I already had on paper, so scrapped it and decided to make a completely new Fic based on it. I feel like I should just briefly explain my writing method as it may effect how quickly I upload chapters. I find that actually taking pen to paper, seriously improves the quality of my writing, so I normally have two notebooks open, one for mind maps and one for the actual story, before then going in to tweak and finally write it up on my laptop. So I effectively have to write each chapter 3 times. I'm not sure how long this story will be as I have an end goal, but I'm not sure how exactly I want to get there. That being said the updates should hopefully be fairly regular; as I just dropped out of college and quiet frankly have nothing else to do at the moment. I've tried to keep it in character, but certain character traits have been exaggerated and at some points may go ooc. Written mostly from Penny's pov, but may change. TBBT is not mine. Enjoy and review. **

**Chapter 1**

Crystal blue eyes burning with passion and desire looked down at her with a heart shattering intensity. Her mind was blank and as he brought his lips lower to hers, the desire within her climbed higher and higher: like a vine. His lips were sort and desperately urging, a direct contrast to the rest of his body, which he held perfectly still as they kissed.

Penny was on the edge of dreams and of her waking reality. She'd had this dream five times in the last month alone and every time she forced herself awake at this point, suddenly scared by the intensity and familiarity of those eyes. The dream was loosing clarity and she forced herself back in to it, just for a while longer.

Her hands roamed his back before they reached the nape of his neck and her hands found themselves weaving in to his short hair, gently scratching his scalp causing him to let out a staccato breathe (a chuckle?).His long fingers came to life and fluttered relentlessly up her arms to her face to cup her cheek. All too slowly, his hands drifted to the hem of her shirt and his soft, nimble fingers slipped beneath and rhythmically rubbed her hip bones, while she grasped his exposed lower arm, pulling herself closer to his thin frame. Her shirt was gone and quickly folded and placed on the coach – the right side- while his lips ghosted over her warm flesh before settling on her neck, all the while kissing and sucking causing her to gasp with each of his movements.

He was wearing too many shirts, so she sought to rectify that problem quickly. She extracted herself from his arms and took a hold of both shirts and deftly pulled them over his head, stopping to plant strategic kisses here and there. Her eyes closed and his lips found hers again, she heard him mumble her name. His voice was so familiar but so strange and foreign, she felt sure she'd heard it before, but never in this tone. She heard herself sigh out a name, but didn't know whose name it was tat fell so easily from her lips. His hands ghosted down her stomach causing it to flutter excitedly. His fingers found the button on her jeans and her breathe hitched in anticipation of his next move. "Sheldon" she panted helplessly. He brought his lips away from her neck and looked down at her. The haziness cleared and for the first time since having this dream she saw the man that had made her feel these incredible things.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Penny's eyes shot open and she sat up in bed, gasping for breathe. Sheldon. For _months_ and possibly years (since blue eyes had haunted her dreams from the very day he showed her his board) she had been dreaming about this mysterious man, who she trusted completely and it turned out to be Dr Sheldon - inexperienced extraordinaire - Lee Cooper. Holy crap on a cracker, she had wanted to do 'things' with Dr whack-a-doodle. Her heart spluttered at the idea of seeing him in less than eight hours for Halo night. How was she supposed to face him after dream Sheldon, made her feel so much pleasure? Inevitably her thoughts turned to Leonard and what this meant. Leonard had always been good to her, wonderful in fact, but she never felt that spark with him. Whilst it felt good to be practically worshiped, this meant that he rarely if ever, challenged anything she said. He was happy to go along with her, because deep down inside she knew she was just a trophy to Leonard, something to say he'd conquered and someone to take his mommy issues out on.

Penny and Leonard were just different, not enough to make it work, but enough differences that caused a lack of electricity. Penny and Sheldon, however. They were the same person but on complete polar opposites of the spectrum, where he was able to understand the inner workings of the universe, she could look at a group of people and just by reading their body language, tell you exactly what was happening. Where she got incredible street smarts, he got a body that dripped genius from every pore. Everything they didn't understand the other did. They worked, complemented each other, and forced each other to become better people. They were Yin and Yang, the sun and the moon.

Each of their personalities challenged the other to within an inch of their lives, but they had that spark, although neither would identify the electricity that flowed between them- until now? Penny stopped herself, was she actually toying with the idea of her and Sheldon being, you know, her and Sheldon. Exclusively. Okay years of dreams had proven in her mind at least, they would be good together, but Sheldon wouldn't be able to give her what she needed in a relationship, even if he wanted to, he just wouldn't be able to get past the 'ick' factor of physical relationship. It didn't matter anyway, she had Leonard and Sheldon had Amy and it was only a dream. Penny kept telling herself that 'just a dream, I don't have feelings for Sheldon.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Penny spent the next few hours doing her normal thing; she showered, threw together a breakfast of toast and yoghurt. She rifled through her closet, trying to decide if blowing this month's rent on new clothes would be worth it, eventually deciding that she could maybe head over to _shoes for less _and pick up a pair or two. By 3 'o'clock she had gotten so bored that she had actually resorted to cleaning her apartment, she had cleaned the kitchen and living room, but when she reached the bedroom the silence had become deafening. She reached for her radio and turned to the first station that didn't have interference. It was a station that played some of her favorite songs, but every song made her think of her dream; first it was Garth Brooks _shameless_, then it was Blake Shelton's _honey bee_, but by the time John Mayer's_ your body is a wonderland _ came on, she'd had enough. She'd been so distracted that she'd been cleaning the same spot for ten minutes. She shut off the radio and turned back to cleaning, without the distraction it took her little over an hour to finish cleaning the rest of her apartment. By 6pm she was done and flopped on the couch to watch some bad TV.

She was just getting in to an episode of _Dog the bounty hunter_, when she heard the boys come home, for a split second she was a deer in the headlights, frozen stiff in her seat, but quickly remembered they couldn't actually see her through her closed door. Not too long after there was a knock at her door – just four, not nine and no penny's – it was Leonard asking if she would be joining them for dinner. He leaned in to engage her in a kiss and she responded, but like normal nothing spectacular happened, it felt good to have someone to kiss, but she didn't feel the 'wow' thing.

"So shall I just order you your usual tonight then?" Leonard asked smugly, clearly pleased with his kissing prowess.

"Yeah please, I'll be over soon okay?" penny responded, feigning interest in him. He quickly kissed her again and turned to strut down the stairs to pick up the food. She couldn't help but glance across the hall, at the apartment that had become so central to her life. She turned to look at the clock, hmm 7:20, the guys wouldn't be there till eight, so that left her with 40 minuets with absolutely nothing to do. Normally after Leonard took her order she would go over to 4A and annoy Sheldon in some way, but after the nights revelation she didn't feel right in doing so, but if she didn't go, Sheldon would come looking for her, complaining that she had yet again messed up his schedule. Pulling on a pair of grey sweats and a pink tank top and sheep skin boots, she huffed and headed across the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She thought about knocking but she usually didn't so she just went straight in. No one was in the living room, so she hesitantly tapped on the bathroom door – knowing Sheldon's rule about talking to him through the bathroom door – but got no reply, his bedroom? She walked to the next room and saw the door slightly ajar; she pushed it open and was met with a sleeping Sheldon, still fully clothed right down to his shoes. Penny tilted her head in concentration while she watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful and even more childlike than normal, she hated to wake him but she felt the need to talk to him, about anything. She hadn't even finished calling his name when he sat up in bed, shouting "Danger! Danger!" with a dazed expression.

"No danger, look it's just me, Penny" she replied with a wide smile, feeling an odd sense of de je vous.

"Penny people can not be in my bedroom" he drawled, his Texas accent more prominent, as he rubbed sleep from his tired eyes.

"I just wanted to hang out, like I normally do on a Wednesday, you know _Halo_ night. Why were you asleep anyway?" she asked curiously.

"Ah yes _Halo_ night and of course we can 'hang out'" Sheldon didn't need to use his fingers for the quotation marks; they rang clearly in the air. "As for the nap, I've been having some difficulty achieving REM sleep for the last week and Wolowitz suggested sleeping tablets. While I normally would never accept help from a measly engineer, who lacks a PhD, I was desperate. I took one of them to determine whether they worked or whether it was just indeed hokum. Did you know that in Peru, there is naturally occu-".Penny cut him off before he could start a lecture that she really wouldn't even attempt to understand, so she simple said:

"Oh, well I'm glad the pills worked sweetie" He slid off the edge of the bed and strode out of the room, penny followed, closing his door behind her and slipped into her spot next to Sheldon's on the couch. He was busy making them both some tea, while penny turned on the TV and looked for a Sheldon pre approved channel. When she spied the _Matrix_ playing she settled into watch the movie; she actually liked this one and had borrowed Sheldon's copy of it once or twice. Sheldon brought the tea over and nodded his approval at her film choice, which quickly turned to surprise as penny quoted one of the lines.

"So… how's Amy? We haven't spoken for a couple of days" said penny, genuinely interested in her 'besties' life. Sheldon just shrugged, noncommittally "Fine, I suppose, things are just as they have always been" She wanted to press for more but Leonard came in with the food, with Raj, Howard and Bernadette in tow. Penny glanced back to the door expecting to see Amy too, but she wasn't there. "No Amy?" she turned to Sheldon and asked with a quirked eyebrow. He looked around the room, as if to say do you see her in here? "Clearly" he said. She didn't know why but she thought something was going on with those two, but would wait till she could be alone with Sheldon to ask. The evening carried on as usual; Howard making some seedy comment, Bernie not understanding Howard's horrible jokes, Raj chatting on about how many calories were in half a cup of low fat yoghurt, Leonard trying to make himself the leader of the pack, Penny making a sarcastic comment and Sheldon not understanding it.

The boys got settled into play _Halo_ and penny and Bernadette drifted over to the kitchen while they waited for their turns to switch in and play. They talked about work for a while, but inevitably talked turned to boys and penny couldn't help but sneak a look over at Leonard and then to Sheldon. She desperately wanted someone to talk to about her possible feelings, but Bernie was friends with Amy and while she trusted Bernadette, she couldn't 100% guarantee that what she said wouldn't get around to Amy, or worse Sheldon. She blushed lightly and shifted uncomfortably. She could however talk about Leonard.

"Hey Bernie, do you ever feel like there is, I don't know… a lack of chemistry between you and Howard?" she quietly asked, keeping her eyes cast down, studying her hands carefully.

"With me and Howie? No never, I felt it from that first horrible date and it only got stronger the more I got to know him. Why, is something going on with Leonard?" she quickly grasped Penny's hand.

"No… yes… maybe. Look lord knows that I love him, but it's not that kind of love. I love him as a friend and I thought maybe there was potential for more, but there isn't." she sighed, looking over at Leonard, biting her bottom lip nervously. "I don't want to hurt him again, but I feel like I'm drowning" Her lip trembled slightly as she finally told someone how she'd been feeling for months now. Bernadette opened her mouth to speak but, Sheldon's authoritative voice rang out, calling them to take their turns.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The rest of the week carried on much as any other week, although she still hadn't heard from Amy, which worried her a little. When Saturday night came around, she seriously contemplated skipping laundry night, but when she realized she was down to her last clean pair of underpants, she filled he laundry basket with clothes that were strewn across her apartment, picked up her detergent and headed down stairs. She looked at the clock in the laundry room 8:10pm huh! She was early for a change. That meant she could load a machine without Sheldon's scrutinizing gaze or him telling her that she was doing it wrong. She had just finished loading her machine when she heard Sheldon coming through the door, softly humming. He stopped suddenly and blushed lightly as he saw her standing by the washer, before looking at his watch that stated it was now 8:15pm.

"Good evening Penny. I must say I'm surprised to find you down here before me." Actually sounding genuinely impressed, as if his influence was finally correcting her behavior.

"Blame it on boredom, I spent 3 hours browsing the internet for shoes that I really cant afford and that's just depressing." She huffed, remembering a particularly perfect red pair that nearly cost two months rent.

"Yes well I'm impressed…would you like to engage in small talk, perhaps exchange pleasantries of the day?" inquired Sheldon, in a surprisingly chipper tone that, he usually reserved for correcting peoples mistakes.

"Sure why not, what have I got to loose. How was your day? Anything amazing happen?" said penny, preparing her self to mentally shut down as Sheldon began talking. She only caught snippets of what he said; something about quarks and monopoles and of course the infamous Higgs Boson particle. She hadn't realized he'd stopped talking and was looking at her expectantly. "I'm sorry, what was that?" she quickly asked. He let out an exasperated sigh.

"I said; how was your day? Honestly penny, you have the attention span of house fly" he chuckled "Oh, well I told you the majority of what I did already – shoe browsing and sleeping. Hey have you heard from Amy, I haven't spoke to her in over a week and I don't know if I should be worried or not." She was genuinely worried about her friend, who usually couldn't go a day without seeing or at least talking to her.

The sharp set was back in his jaw, as it had been on Wednesday night, he looked as though he was contemplating something. "Not that its any of your concern, but, Amy and I terminated our relationship agreement on Monday evening and I presume Leonard is just dying to tell you that she was just here to sign the termination notice." Penny was shocked, not only had Sheldon and Amy broke up, but Amy had just been here moments ago and hadn't even come looking for her, to pour her broken heart out to, since she assumed Sheldon suggested the termination. But Sheldon was her friend too, so she did her duty.

"Oh Sheldon I'm so sorry, I'm here for you if you ever want to talk about it. I know how tough break ups can-". He silenced her with his hand "Penny what advise could you, a community college drop out, offer me a genius with an IQ of 187 that I hadn't already thought of?" he looked at her like she'd just told the most ridiculous joke he'd ever heard.

"Hey! I was just trying to be a good friend, you don't have to be rude about it" he tried to talk again, but penny talked over him, much the way he did to others, despite those southern manners he claimed to poses. "You know what? Sometimes you can be a real jerk. You're condescending, you're arrogant and you like to put everyone down just to make yourself feel better. Really what was thinking about you?!" she stormed out of the laundry room, leaving her clothes, basket and a shocked faced Sheldon behind. She stomped up the stairs; slamming the door behind her making sure she did it loud enough that Sheldon could hear it from 4 floors below. She stomped over to her couch and kicked off her shoes. How dare he act like that? She was just trying to help him and he threw it back in her face and then proceeded to insult her. She took out her phone and sent off a text to Amy.

_**Penny**__: hey just heard about your break up. Hope you're dealing okay? Do you wanna talk about it? _ She didn't have to wait long before Amy was replying.

_**Amy**__: hello. Did Sheldon tell you? Yes I'm fine, there were no tears to be reported and I held my ground._

_**Penny**__: yeah Sheldon told me. Are you sure you're okay? I know he's a condescending ass hat. Why'd he break up with you any way?_

_**Amy**__: I thought Leonard would have told you as he was there when we signed the termination notice. Ass hat is an understatement. Why do you think__** he **__broke up with __**me**__? _

_**Penny**__: yeah he told me Leonard was there, I'm sure I'll get a play by play from him soon. I dunno… I just assumed, you know, coz you were so in love with him? _

Huh? So Amy broke up with Sheldon. Penny did not expect that. She quickly sent of another text.

_**Penny**__: so why'd you break up with him then?_

_**Amy**__: I wanted to engage in intercourse and Sheldon refused. I tried to force it on him, you know – be dominant, like you- he ran off and hid in the bathroom. So I told him if he didn't give it to me, id find it somewhere else. He said fine and sent me a termination proposal from inside the bathroom, so I said he would never have another girlfriend who would put up with him and I left_

What the heck!? Amy tried to force Sheldon into sex and she thought that's how penny would have handled it. Amy was her friend sure, but Sheldon meant a lot more to her than Amy did, despite how much of a dick he could be sometimes.

_**Penny**__: YOU TRIED TO FORCE SHELDON INTO SEX?! That is so wrong, yeah I'm strong willed, but I would never do that. He's gonna think I told you to do that! Do you have any idea how TWISTED that is. That's border line rape Amy. I'm glad Leonard was there when you were here to sign your termination or whatever. I feel sick. I mean what the hell… I didn't think you were capable of anything like this. Please don't talk to me right now, this is too weird and don't ever go near Sheldon again or you will have me to deal with._

Penny was glad when she didn't get a reply. Yeah Amy was a little… strange, but border line felon? No way. Penny thought about how Sheldon must have felt, trapped in his own bathroom, she couldn't bear to think about it. She'd been home that day, if he'd of just called her name, she'd have come running. Penny felt an overwhelming need to hug him and comfort him, promise him that Amy would never lay a finger him. She put on her slippers and opened the door to go and see Sheldon. She nearly fell on her face on her way out. On the floor, directly in front of her door, was her laundry basket of folded clean clothes, with a note that simply read:

**Dear penny, I am very sorry. Regards, Dr Sheldon Lee Cooper.**

She nearly cried as she read his words, before taking her clothes in to her bedroom and grabbing her keys and purse, before changing her shoes and heading out to the supermarket.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A little over an hour later after a trip to the super market and comic book store, she arrived home. She dropped the bags down at the door once she was inside and went over to the kitchen and turned on the stove, to get some water boiling. While she waited for it to boil she did some dishes and put away the clothes she had just washed, before going to put the pasta in the water. While it cooked she got to work putting the hot fudge sundae together and slicing the hot dogs, before adding them to the sauce to cook. When everything was cooked she put it all in a large casserole dish and placed a lid on top. She quickly text Leonard.

_**Penny:**__ hey you okay? Is Sheldon home? _He responded quickly.

_**Leonard**__: I'm great thanks, yeah he's here, but he's not in a very good mood though. Hey did you hear about Amy and Sheldon breaking up? Can you believe it… are you going to stay the night? ;)_

_**Penny**__: oh okay good. I may have something to do with this mood and yep he told me about it, did he tell you why… umm I need to come over, but I don't know if I can stay… I have the early shift tomorrow :( _

_**Leonard**__: nope, I asked but he got really twitchy so I didn't press it. Oh what did you do? Too bad… :( _

She sighed, frustrated. She wanted to tell Leonard how she felt, but with what was happening with Sheldon and Amy, now wasn't the right time. The last thing any of them needed was a moping Leonard for the next 3 weeks.

_**Leonard**__: have you spoken to Amy? Did she tell you what happened?_

_**Penny**__: yeah and I really don't think it's my place to say and I really don't want to talk about Amy. I'll be over in a sec. _

She picked up the meal she had so lovingly cooked along with the bag from the comic book store and went across the hall. She saw Leonard in the kitchen.

"Hey love bug" he said cheerfully. "What have you got there? Did you go to the comic book store alone?" he looked shocked and slightly concerned for her safety.

"Hi. I made dinner and yep I did. It was basically empty, so no lingering stares" she laughed out. "Where's Sheldon?" she whispered from the living room.

"Bedroom. Are you sure you want to see him right now? I'm sure I saw him starting to build a death ray again." Penny shook her head.

"Yeah I need to talk to him. Just give me a minuet okay?" she breezed down the hall way to the bedrooms and knocked gently on his door.

"Go away Leonard, your presence is not required or wanted in here." His voice was muffled through his door. She twisted the handle and pushed it open with her foot.

"Actually it's me, we need to talk. Listen I'm sorry I snapped at you I'm just… having a tough time at the moment. Thank you for apologizing that was really sweet Sheldon. Look I spoke to Amy and she told me what she did. Just so you know, I felt physically sick when she told me. I told her not to talk to me for a while and I told her not to try and see you again. Why didn't you tell me? Or when it happened, why didn't you just call for me, I was home, I would have heard you calling and I'd have come to you." She smiled at him sadly, as he looked down at his feet and shuffled them awkwardly.

"I don't wish to discuss this further, we are no longer 'together' and I have no intentions of reinstating that particular agreement. Penny you've known me for 7 years, when have I ever asked you or anyone for help, with matters that do not concern them?" he scoffed. She felt a little bubble of anger building in her chest, so she patted his arm and began talking again.

"I know. Just know that I'm here for you if you need me. Can you come to the living room, I've got a surprise for you." She said excitedly trying to entice him from his room. He stood and gestured for her to leave; he followed closely behind and walked to the living room. Penny pointed at his spot so he sat down, while she lightly skipped to the kitchen as Leonard watched her from his desk. She could tell he was desperate to know what was going on, so she gave him her best smile, hoping it would distract him. She pulled two plates down from the cupboard and hesitated, before asking if Leonard wanted some too. He said no claiming not to be hungry. She knew Leonard didn't trust her cooking. Penny wasn't the best cook but she could cook fairly simple things. She heaped hers and Sheldon's plates, before taking them over to where he sat.

"Tada" she exclaimed happily, as she presented him with his plate. His face lit up like a Christmas tree. It was moments like these, when she could see a future with him. A future where she'd cook this every Saturday night, while their kids played with some kind of lasers. Whoa… kids? That was new. She nearly dropped her plate at the next thought that went through her mind and took root there. She tried to think of something else, but it was useless. She saw 3 children; 2 boys and a girl, all with Sheldon's blue eyes. While the youngest boys hair was blonde, the other two had hair as dark as their fathers.

"Thank you penny. Spaghetti with hot dogs cut up… my favorite" he said, smiling brightly before shoveling a forkful in to his mouth. She giggled "You're welcome sweetie" still slightly shaken from that last thought. They ate in silence for a while as the watched _firefly_. When they finished she patted his hand and took his plate.

"And now for the piece d'resistance…" she looked around the kitchen confusedly. "Oh no! I left it in my apartment." She quickly opened the door and ran to her apartment. The ice cream wasn't completely melted, but the hot fudge sauce was just this side of burnt and was sticking to the bottom of the pot. She quickly crushed some store bought brownies over the ice cream and topped it all off with the sauce, before grabbing two long sundae spoons to put in the long glasses. She strolled back to 4A and handed him his sundae, which he took eagerly.

"Mmmm, penny this is remarkable. You know I might just have to make Saturday night hot dog and spaghetti with hot fudge sundae night. Presuming you make it of course." He said as he licked the ice cream from the back of the spoon.

"Slow down sweetie. How about I make it for you once a month for now?" she couldn't afford make it every week.

"That is an excellent compromise, however would it be open to negotiation at a later date?" he inquired, starting to take on a tone that penny had come to recognize as his agreement making voice.

"Of course sweetie." She beamed up at him.

**FYI this was my favorite chapter to write so far. I love the length Penny went to, to make things up to Sheldon.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

At nine o'clock they had just finished watching the _5__th__ element_ and Penny found herself sitting slightly closer to Sheldon than usual, close enough that she could almost touch his leg with hers. Leonard kept shooting glances at the two of them and she knew what he was seeing; his girlfriend smiling a genuine smile at his room mate. A smile he hadn't seen for weeks.

"Excuse me; I need to void my bladder." Sheldon quickly said, never one to hold back any details with regard to his bodily functions.

"So, that was really nice what you did for Sheldon. What made you do it anyway?" Leonard said, jealousy creeping in to his voice as he spun around in his chair.

"Well we had a pretty nasty fight and he's just broke up with Amy and after I found out why, I felt really angry and bad for him. And I'm not telling you why they broke up, before you ask. That's Sheldon's business and if he wants to tell you that's fine, but I wont tell you." Leonard just huffed and looked over her head and mumbled "You've never done anything like that for me" suddenly she felt guilty and she knew she was going to end up staying the night to make it up to him. Sheldon returned then in his pajamas and went to the kitchen and made himself a mug of warm milk. The color of his pajamas reminded her of _the Flash_. She smiled in surprise as she actually knew what the _Flash _was. Oh! She felt even guiltier as she remembered the present she had picked up at the comic book store. She _knew _she should have picked up a present for Leonard too, but Sheldon's alone cost over $100. Yep, sex was going to have to be extra special tonight.

"You know what, maybe I can stay tonight. If you still want me to?" Leonard cheered up instantly and penny tried to smile at him like she had been smiling at Sheldon all night.

"Umm, hey Sheldon… I have something for you." She said as she reached for the plastic bag she had stowed underneath the coffee table. "It's a _Flash _#105. I talked to Stewart and he said something about first appearance of mirror man or something. He didn't think you had this issue, you don't do you? Do you like it?" she spoke quickly waiting for Sheldon's response. His face was twitching, much like it had the day she had given him the Leonard Nimoy napkin.

"Where did you find this? I've been to that comic book store every Wednesday for nearly 10 years and you just happen to wonder in one day and stumble across this somewhat rare _Flash_. I continue to underestimate you penny. Thank you." He threw his long arms around her mid section, clumsily and hung on for his life. She could see Leonard glaring at the two of them from the corner of eye; she had to find a way to placate him fast. Every fiber of her body protested as she unwrapped Sheldon's arms from around her waist and rubbed his forearm. "Well I'm glad you like it sweetie, Leonard I'm going to bed. Are you coming?" she turned to Leonard with a flirtatious smile and a wink. He quickly shut off his laptop and practically ran past her to his room with a smile plastered to his face.

"Good night Sheldon. I'm glad were okay just remember that I'm here for you. Sweet dreams Sheldon." He looked up from his comic book and gave penny a look she hadn't seen before, it was like his koala face but more intense. "I shall forever be I your debt penny. I hope you reach sufficient REM sleep." She turned and walked to Leonard's room and paused just outside his door, taking a deep breath to steady her resolve, before pulling her face into what she hoped was a genuine smile. She really didn't want to do this, especially after her most recent and most disturbing thought about her and Sheldon. Leonard's lips were on Penny's almost as soon as she shut the door, guiding her to the bed in the middle of the room. The only thought passing through her mind was that this needed to be special for him tonight, after all the attention she had lavished on Sheldon all evening. Her body was on auto pilot as she began undressing, remembering all that Leonard liked in the bedroom.

She woke up at 4am, naked next to Leonard and sighed sadly as she looked over at him. She had to end it with him, but now wasn't the right time, so she'd just have to put on a brave face and push through it for a while. She thought back to the sex and remembered feeling extremely guilty when a moan escaped her lips, that she knew Sheldon's Vulcan hearing would pick up. This wasn't fair to Leonard and it wasn't fair to her self. Even if she would never be with Sheldon, she had to tell Leonard it was over – for good this time. A tear rolled down her cheek as she turned over and tried to go back to sleep, hoping that she wouldn't dream of Sheldon.

** Sorry I couldn't go into detail with Penny and Leonard's bedroom activities, but I tried to write something for them but felt actually kinda revolted doing it, so I left it out. Just proves how much of a Shenny fan I am. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Penny found herself awake again at 6.30am, deciding to slip out before Leonard woke up. She put her clothes on form the night before and sighed at the clock, she didn't have to work until 10am. If this had been another day, she would have just flipped over and gone back to sleep, but she wasn't comfortable. She tiptoed out of the room and carefully shut the door behind her, letting go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Good morning Penny" Sheldon said loudly, form close behind her. She jumped in the air and gasped for breath.

"Holy crap…Sheldon! You scared me, oh my god I nearly peed my self." Penny's breath puffed out of her and her hand rested on her chest as she desperately tried to stop her heart from leaping out of it. She turned and playfully smacked his arm, lightly scowling at him as she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. "Jerk" she mumbled as she stepped around him to make some coffee. She heard his breathy chuckle and couldn't help but smile.

"So, what's for breakfast on a Sunday?" she said quizzically, already knowing that Sunday was a low end of the fiber scale cereal day. He looked over toward the top of the fridge and reached for the honey puffs. His hand stopped in mid air as he looked down at her intently, opened his mouth and then shut it again. His eyebrows furrowed in frustration and he opened his mouth to speak. "Would you perhaps like me to make you eggs?" Penny frowned at Sheldon and looked around the room as if to make sure he was really talking to her. "Why…" she was suspicious, Sheldon was notorious for his pranks, so she waited for his 'Bazinga' and patented chuckle.

"Penny I am a firm believer of the quid pro quo system and after last nights meal and gift, it came to my realization that, simply folding your clothes and writing a brief note was insufficient practice on my part. I will now endeavor to reciprocate appropriately. Commencing with breakfast." He slowly explained, as if it was the most obvious thing on the world. Penny found herself wanting to cry a little. For Gods sake, it was just breakfast. But penny knew it was more than that. He was willing to change the great 'Sheldonian' calendar to make it up to her. She also knew that she was severely over thinking how much she meant to Sheldon.

"Sheldon sweetie, I didn't do all that stuff last night just to try and get you to apologize any more than you already have. I don't need anything else." She told him, thinking that this would assuage his guilt. Hah! Look at that, she remembered how to used that word in a sentence. He was shaking his head. "Never the less; that is what I shall be doing. It's non optional." It then occurred to penny that in the 7 years she had known Sheldon, she had never once seen him cook and wasn't even sure he knew how to. He just seemed so helpless. "Sweetie do you need any help?" the last thing she needed was food poisoning or worse; an injured Sheldon that she would inevitably end up taking care of.

"I'm quite capable of cooking eggs Penny, as well as an array of other dishes. My Meemaw taught me to cook when I was a boy; she said it was important that a southern gentleman know how to cook, to impress his woman. It's irrelevant to me as I have no interest in impressing any females, but I can remember everything she taught me." He told her, smiling fondly at the memory. Penny pouted slightly at the last sentence and what it meant. "All right then. I'll just let you get on with the eggs…FYI I'm impressed." She meant to walk away, but she found herself watching him from the other side of the island as he methodically cooked the eggs. His confident hands gripping the spatula and the way he cocked his head to the left as he pushed the eggs around the pan. She could see the slight muscle definition in his lower arms as he worked. Her mouth hung open and a warm breath slipped between her lips, as she remembered how safe she felt in dream Sheldon's arms.

"I presume you had a sexually satisfying experience with Leonard last night?" Sheldon asked, turning slightly. "No" she huffed out, then realized what she had let slip and flung her hand up to cover her mouth.

"Oh God! Sheldon please don't tell Leonard I said that, he'd never forgive me and he'd be so embarrassed." She mumbled in to her hands as she dropped her head to hide her blush. "Now you're asking me to keep a secret? Penny, do you not recall what happened the last time you forced me to keep a secret? I refuse to do that again. Besides it sounded to me like you found the experience enjoyable." He explained calmly as if they were merely talking about the weather. "It's called acting Sheldon… and what the hell? You were listening?"

"Interesting, so you're telling me that you pretended to enjoy coitus? Why would you do that? Penny, Penny, Penny. I have remarkable hearing, I couldn't help but hear the two of you." He looked at her blankly.

"Oh for the love of God, Sheldon. I was pretending so that Leonard didn't get offended that he couldn't, you know… please me." Penny really and truly didn't know why she was talking about this with this sexually blind man.

"Oh so what you mean to tell me is that, Leonard was unable to maintain an erection long enough, for you to achieve orgasm and social protocol dictates, he believe you did, as to boost his ego. Intriguing indeed, I feel this needs further exploration." Said Sheldon thoughtfully, pondering this new information. "Oh my god, yes. Why am I even talking about this with you… now can we please talk about _anything_ else. I don't want Leonard waking up to find his room mate and girlfriend talking about how good he is in the sack." She could feel her face burning with a blush that could rival a tomato.

"Very well. You'll be happy to know I read my new comic book last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Its now bagged up and ready to go to my safe deposit box today. Can you drive me?"Penny was grateful for the change of subject and nervously giggled at how Sheldon could quickly change subjects.

"Sure, can we go after I finish work? I'm only working till 4 today, so if you can meet me there, I'll take you." Said Penny as she watched him plate up the eggs. "That sounds acceptable. Breakfast is ready." He said as he handed her, her plate and sat down next to her to eat.

**This is all i have typed so far guys. i have one more chapter to type up and then i got nothing cept ideas. i'll be writing the rest of the day probably so you might be lucky and get a coupe more chapter 'fore bed time. thanks**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Penny slipped back to her apartment after eating breakfast with Sheldon and gave him a warning not to mention there earlier conversation to Leonard. Once back in her apartment she went to the bathroom and plugged her IPod into the small speakers and Josh Turner's _why don't we just dance_ started playing loudly as she slipped in to the shower. The water warmed her quickly as she stood and let cascade down her body. She softly sang along and belted the chorus out each time it came around. 15 minuets later she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a large, fluffy yellow towel, feeling more rested than she had in weeks. The scent of her green apple shampoo wafted around her face as she dried off, before using the vanilla body lotion from one of the many bath sets Sheldon bought her several Christmas's ago. She still hadn't even made her way through half of them; she wouldn't need to buy any skin care products for at least another 3 years. She pulled on her uniform and headed out to work. She was rounding the corner on the second floor when her phone buzzed, alerting her to a text.

_**Leonard**__: you left without saying goodbye :(_

Penny quickly text back

_**Penny**__: yeah, sorry I didn't want to wake you. Its Sunday I thought maybe you'd wanna sleep in. I'm on my way to work now, can you remind S to be there at 4 and to keep his hole shut or I won't bring him home and he'll have to get the bus. He'll know what you're taking about, DW about it. Thnx._

_**Leonard**__: I wouldn't have minded you waking me up. Will I see you after work tonight? Maybe we can watch a movie at your place tonight? Umm…okay where are you two going, did you guys fight again? What did you do this time? LOL_

Penny didn't read his text until she pulled into an empty space at work. Suddenly she felt angry at Leonard for constantly questioning her.

_**Penny**__: why do you always think me and Sheldon are in a fight? Just b'cuz you 2 always argue doesn't mean we do! Tell Sheldon to be CF at 4 okay and mind ur own damn business._

She didn't mean to get as angry as she did, but she had a momentary lapse in control and let a tiny portion of the anger she had been suppressing, out.

_**Leonard**__: fine I'll tell him. Sorry for getting involved. Forget about the movie tonight okay?_

_**Penny**__: yeah. Forget it._

She turned off her phone and got out of the car and headed into work. Her shift flew by and she was rushed off her feet all day having worked the lunch time rush. She'd only had 10 minuets for her break and was starving by the time she was finished for the day. She hung up her apron and clocked out, while checking her phone for messages. Of course she had a string of them from Leonard saying things like 'I'm sorry, please forgive me' or ' your breaking up with me aren't you?' she had one from Sheldon that simply said ' Have you ended your dalliance with Leonard?' She grabbed her hoodie and said goodbye to Jimmy and Lisa in the kitchen and headed out the back kitchen door. Standing next to her passenger door was Sheldon in his brown and beige windbreaker, his messenger bag neatly placed across the center of his broad chest. She smiled at him brightly as she unlocked the doors.

"Penny you told me to be here at 1600 hours, it is now 1608." He explained looking down at his watch.

"Well, hello to you too Sheldon. Yes, my shift was fine thank you for asking… you know you might want to try and be nicer to people who are doing you favors. She said sarcastically, shaking her head as she climbed in and turned on the ignition.

"Sarcasm?" when she nodded he pumped his fist "That means I'm two for two this month." Penny couldn't hold back the bark of laughter that escaped her lips, causing Sheldon to frown at her looking insulted. "I'm sorry, but Sheldon its February 1st" she chocked out between giggles.

"Yes well it's a significant improvement over the same time period of last month. Did you break up with Leonard?" he asked turning to look at her in his seat. Her good mood vanished instantly at the mention of Leonard. "No we had a fight… over you by the way. Why do you ask?" she asked as they stopped at a red light. "Well when I left the apartment he was wailing along to _Alone again naturally_, and if history is any indicator he often does that when you've broken the little scamps heart." They pulled up to the bank and she watched Sheldon get out and head inside. When he returned they drove the rest of the way home in comfortable silence. She quietly went into her apartment after saying a hushed goodbye to Sheldon hoping to avoid Leonard for the time being.

Leonard hadn't heard from penny for 2 days, so when Tuesday night rolled around, he knew she'd have no choice but to talk to him at work. He may not have talked to Penny, but Sheldon had. He had spent the majority of Monday evening at her apartment, returning just before his 10 'o'clock bed time. He really needed to talk to Sheldon about that, tell him to back off and let him and penny fix the problem, which he had essentially been the cause of. They had just picked up Raj and Howard and where headed to the cheesecake factory, while Sheldon spent the entire journey droning on about the inaccuracies of quantum loop theory. He could normally drown his voice out, but recently his voice had begun to grate on his nerves. They pulled up to the restaurant and headed in toward their usual table, as Sheldon branched off to the bathroom. They sat down and looked at their menu's.

"So still on the outs with Penny huh?" Howard cautiously asked over the top of his menu. "Yep. She won't return my calls and refuses to see me. Of course she's happy to spend all her evenings with Sheldon though" he said dryly.

"Oooh are we little jealous? Better watch out, Sheldon is a free agent again. He might be making moves on your girl. I mean who knows what kind of stuff they could have been up to Monday night?" Howard laughed manically and Raj looked at him.

"You know I think they'd be an amazing couple, kind of strange sure, but incredible. I mean can you imagine _their_ babies?" When Howard gave him an incredulous look, he continued with his little revelation. "Don't look at me like that dude. You and I both know that if this was any guy other than Sheldon, the sexual tension would be off the charts." Leonard had to butt in at that.

"Wait, so you're actually saying you think they could have some sort of chemistry between them? You think Sheldon is a better choice than me?!" his voice rose in disbelief. Sheldon sat down at the table in the middle of another argument caused by him; his Vulcan hearing must have heard his last sentence so he said. "Well of course I'm a better choice than you. Who is disputing it?" Not knowing the previous statement. The fire in Leonard pitched higher. Just then a waitress came over and introduced herself as Jessica, Leonard opened his mouth, but Sheldon's voice caused his words to die on his lips.

"Where's Penny?" Damn him, he was stealing his lines. The waitress explained that penny was on her break and asked for the order. Sheldon started talking again "Nothing, thank you. We'll wait until Penny has finished her break. That's all." The waitress made a disgruntled noise, as if remembering why everyone left this table for Penny. He frowned at Sheldon and he raised his eyebrows in response. The four of them sat in awkward silence, with Howard shooting looks between the two of them. They didn't have to wait long, before he saw penny coming toward their table.

"Hi, what can I get you guys? The usual?" she stood ever so slightly closer to Sheldon than she normally would and Leonard's stomach dropped to his feet. They all gave their orders and Penny turned to leave. "Penny can we talk?" he asked sadly, he watched her shoulders drop and turn back to face him. "Make it quick. I'm working." She said curtly. He looked at her and then back at the faces of his eager eyed friends. "Here? I was hoping we could talk privately." He responded

"Look, whatever you say to me, I'll tell Bernadette and she'll tell Howard and he'll tell Raj. So whatever you want to say, you might as well say it here."

"Fine. I'm sorry I made you mad. It wasn't my intention to do that. Can we maybe go out Thursday night so we can talk about it and I can make it up to you?" he asked hopefully. Sheldon piped up again, with that annoying voice of his.

"Actually, Penny and I have plans for Thursday night. She is taking me to the train museum in Hollywood. They have a new exhibit that is opening that night and I want to be the first to see it in all its glory." Leonard growled as Sheldon smiled up at Penny and she smiled down at him. "Can't you do that a different night? Penny is _my _girlfriend and _you_ keep getting in the way of that." Sheldon looked back at him to argue, but penny cut him off with a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I promised Sheldon I was going out with him and that's what I'm doing. Oh and now I need your permission to go out with my friend? And how is Sheldon in the way? Because I'm not making you a priority? God you're just like every other jerk I've dated. Oh and if you start on Sheldon when I walk away, you'll have an even bigger problem with me than you already do." She said as she stomped off.

"Remind me to never come to you for advice, when I get into a fight with Bernie" said Howard sarcastically. "Shut up Howard." He said venomously, his gaze locked on to Sheldon who was happily playing away on his phone, oblivious to the problem he just caused.

**Leonard's insecurities have been taken from my own experience with an ex boyfriend and I found this a good way to vent about it. Thanks for the reviews so far, they are much appreciated, however I am now feeling slightly nervous about posting as I feel the need to make it really special. BTW I'm not going to have internet until Tuesday at the earliest as were having the house rewired, so unless I can get to a library I won't be able to post. once again thanks so much and continue to enjoy and review. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**Okay you wouldn't have this chapter today if it wasn't thanks to my incredible neighbor for letting me use her internet for an hour. Thank you for these amazing reviews… I just want to hug each and every one of you! Anyway here comes the start of the break up… Enjoy! **

Every time she saw Leonard it was getting harder and harder to pretend to be in love with him. She was well aware of his insecurities, but this time around in their relationship they seemed to get worse. Or maybe they only seemed worse, since she had finally realized just how wrong they were for each other. Not long after her confrontation with Leonard, Sheldon text her. She looked over to his table but he wasn't there.

_Sheldon: Good evening Penny. Perhaps we should reschedule. I don't want to be the cause of Leonard becoming hostile to live with. He will of course already be intolerable when we arrive home. I shall go by myself. _

Penny's stomach flipped and knotted as Sheldon suggested her not going to the museum with him on Thursday. She panicked and her eyes desperately scanned the restaurant, looking for him. She wanted to spend as much time with Sheldon as he would allow.

_Penny: NO! I told you that I was taking you and that's final! It's not your fault Leonard has a bee up his ass about it. Besides I warned him not to try and start with you didn't I? If he knows me at all, he knows I don't make empty threats. Anyway I want to go and see this old 4-4-0 locomotive from the 19__th__ century ;) where did you disappear to?_

She couldn't wait for his response, to her knowing what it was they would be looking at. After they arranged their 'date' on Monday night, she had made a point of doing some research into trains. She didn't see the appeal of trains, but it was important to Sheldon, so it was important to her.

_Sheldon: Very well, if you insist. However if Leonard turns violent and kills me, you are going to have to call my mom and explain. Very good penny. I was unaware you knew anything at all about trains. I'm in the bathroom._

_Penny: Great! If Leonard kills u, he'll have to deal with me, ur mom and Missy goin all Texan and Nebraskan on his ass. Haha… makin a habit of texting girls frm bathrooms huh? LOL :P_

_Sheldon: I've only texted you and Amy from the bathroom. Its hardly common practice. I wish you wouldn't use 'text talk'. The English language is a beautiful construction, which has undergone years of evolution and should be used in its correct form. I should return to my table or they may become suspicious as I have exceeded my allotted bathroom time for public restrooms._

Penny rarely used text talk unless she was feeling lazy or angry, but she deliberately made her next text as text-y as possible.

_Penny: Whteva u say. If L gves u a hard tme 2nite ur wlcm 2 com 2 mine. LOL ROFL xoxo. C ya l8r shelbot. _ She couldn't help but giggle at his one worded reply.

_Sheldon: Droll_

She looked in the direction of the bathrooms and saw Sheldon making his way to his table with a secret smile on his lips. 10 minuets later Raj called her over to pay for the meal. She handed them the check and smiled at all of them but Leonard. As she walked away she heard Raj say to Leonard "Oh boy. You are defiantly in the dog house." She smiled as she walked over to another table to take their order and continue with her work. The remaining hour of her shift dragged as the place slowly emptied, until there were only 3 tables that were still eating.

The ride home was insufferable; Howard kept looking at him like he was crazy, which he knew he wasn't, as he had told him many times that his mother had, had him tested. Raj was looking at him with an expression he struggled to identify, but could only compare it to his own koala face. Leonard was angry, he knew that expression immediately. Normally Sheldon would relish the quiet, but tonight with this strange mix of emotions, figuratively bouncing around the car, he felt as though he was being crushed by hyper gravity.

"Why don't we all play a car ga-" He started.

"Sheldon, I told Penny I wouldn't be mean to you. But if I hear your voice right now, the likelihood of you having to sleep in the stairwell tonight will increase significantly." Leonard looked and sounded positively murderous, so Sheldon decided to, as Penny would say; shut his hole. Leonard dropped him off first, before taking Raj and Howard to their respective abodes. He went straight to his room and put on his Tuesday pajamas and climbed into bed, cocooning himself to his specific requirements. He turned on his IPad and looked at the train museum website. It had a count down clock for the opening of the new exhibit, only 36 hours to go. He was ecstatic to be showing Penny something that he was so found of.

He wondered if penny would be home yet. He wasn't sure if it would be prudent for him to not be present in the apartment, when Leonard arrived home or if going to Penny's would only aggravate him further. Sheldon was stumped, he'd usually ask Leonard for this type of advice, but the threat of being forced out in to the stairwell to sleep kept him form calling Leonard.

Penny left the cheesecake factory, a ball of mixed emotions. She was furious at Leonard, she was mad at herself and she was excited at spending Thursday with Sheldon. She climbed into her car and drove home at a pace that would have met Sheldon's approval. She climbed the stairs of 2311 North Los Robles slowly, her tired feet dragging along as she climbed to the fourth floor. She wanted to check on Sheldon to make sure Leonard had done anything to hurt him, so she quickly unlocked her door and flicked on the light, intending to change into her pajamas and head over. In the middle of her couch was Leonard; he'd been sat in her dark apartment for at least at hour and penny felt kind of violated at the thought he'd let himself in and sat there alone in the dark, like some crazy stalker.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded quickly.

"I wanted to talk to you… sort out this big misunderstanding. Look I forgive you, it's not your fault that you have to chaperon Sheldon around town when you clearly don't want to. I thought maybe you could talk to him and tell him to make other arrangements for Thursday, since I know you don't really want to look at dusty old trains." He calmly explained in the most patronizing tone she had ever heard, from anyone other than Sheldon Cooper. What the actual crap. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He tried to talk again, but Penny started first.

"_You _forgive _me?! _What is it that I'm being forgiven for, since I haven't done anything wrong? And when have I ever done anything with Sheldon that I haven't wanted to? If I don't want to go somewhere with him I don't go." She took a breath, knowing that the last sentence was a lie. She'd never been able to successfully say no to Sheldon and she didn't know why. Maybe he was using some kind of mind control, from one of those science fiction movies he loved so much.

"You know what? I'm tired of justifying my self to you. You constantly put me down and tell me I'm stupid for trying to be an actress. I'm tired of being your little play thing to show off at the university or the comic book store. I can't do this. Leonard I don't want to be with you anymore." The huge weight that had been resting on her chest was gone and she wanted to laugh at how amazing it felt. She felt more like her old self, not the Penny that drowned herself in nearly 3 bottles of wine a week, just to keep pretending to be in love. She took a deep breath and looked up at Leonard to show him the door. He was looking at her like she had just killed a puppy and sold its organs on the black market. Oh boy, here come the tears.

**I have the lump of the break up coming up next… it may get a little nasty, but what break up isn't. Leonard's anger will be present for a few more chapters after the next one, but will go away only to come back. However the fun begins from here… oh and for the person who said Sheldon seems a little to accepting of the random touches (sorry I'm hopeless at remembering names) I had already got that sorted out and something will happen to make him realize he's been a little too lenient with her.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Now that the electricians have finally left my house (YAY) I can write without being every 5 minutes. I'm hoping to update at least twice a week on a Wednesday and Saturday. That way I have 3 days to write a new chapter and edit before I upload, unless the mood takes me and I decide to upload more than twice in that week. Once again thank you for these awesome reviews and the continued support. I love you all so much. Enjoy **

His brain refused to process the words that had just left Penny's lips. No way was Penny dumping him again, it just couldn't happen. "Wait your leaving me again? Is this because of what's been happening with Sheldon?" the questions flew from his lips, he had a million and one filling his head and of course he had to ask about Sheldon. "I thought we were getting on great. I thought this time we would be together forever… but you're just leaving again." He could feel the tears filling his eyes, but he didn't care. He was trying to employ a tactic he knew would break Penny and guilt her back into a relationship with him.

Penny had prepared herself for the tears and guilt, so that when they came she could look at him and see just that; a man trying to manipulate her to stay with him. She gave a heavy sigh. "I can't be with you Leonard; it's suffocating me every time I have to see you." He actually looked like he would drop to his knees and beg, plead and cry for her to stay with him.

"But I love you Penny, you love me. Were supposed to be together." Penny could feel herself getting angry. For once, she wished he was just another dumb gym guy and would accept what she had said and leave, just like all the other guys. She had tried the softly, softly approach and it had gotten her no where. He truly was one of the most delusional men she had ever had the displeasure of dating. She went in for the kill and told him exactly how she had been feeling for weeks… skipping over Sheldon's unintentional involvement in any of it. "Ugh. Leonard you don't love me, you love the idea of me; I could be any girl just as long as I was hot, you love the sex and what I give you. I don't love you Leonard, when you first asked me out again, I thought maybe I could, but I realized weeks ago that I don't want anything more, than to be your friend… and after how you've acted this week, I don't even think I want that anymore." She watched as the fake tears stopped and something in Leonard snapped, the real Leonard rearing his head, one she very rarely saw.

"So you've felt this way for weeks and you just kept stringing me along?" he shouted. Penny tried to respond, but he just kept getting louder and louder, until she was sure the whole building would be able to hear him. "You just kept sleeping with me, hoping that I wouldn't notice that you were using me?! You know, when your dad was here and telling me about those guys from when you were a kid, I should have listened. You really are a whore aren't you?" he smiled at her sharply. She knew he was just saying these things because he was hurt, but it still didn't mean she liked what she was hearing. Her hands tingled with a burning urge to slap him a few thousand times, but she restrained herself. She did, however shout back at him.

"I was using you?! Leonard, even when we weren't seeing each other and you were dating other girls, you didn't want me to be with anyone else. You wanted to box me up, like one of your collectables, put me up on a shelf and take me down to play with when you got bored of your new toy, or got dumped. Now get out of my apartment." She said as she walked to the door and held it open for him to leave.

"I'm not leaving until you give me a good reason for breaking up with me." He said, tilting his head up in that way that Penny, oh so hated. "Not loving you is pretty high up on the list of reasons I don't want to be with you… now get out." She explained calmly, still standing by the door. Leonard kept pushing and pushing; this little homunculus was excellent at finding ways to try and hurt her, so she listened as he called her name after name. As one particularly nasty insult was spat at her, she snapped. "I'm in love with someone else!" she shouted, surprised that she had told Leonard that. It was also the first time that she had actually acknowledged that she might love Sheldon, of course she didn't tell Leonard that.

"YOU'VE BEEN CHEATING ON ME?!" screamed Leonard.

"Will you stop yelling so loud! You're gonna scare Sheldon and he'll run away and then God knows what could happen." She replied, through gritted teeth as she tried to keep her voice down. "Oh it all comes back to Sheldon doesn't it? I just found out my girlfriend was cheating on me… Sheldon could be hit by a car right now for all I care." At Leonard's words, Penny was sure her own face had started twitching angrily. She couldn't fight the urge to hit him this time. She marched over to him and brought her right palm down, so hard and fast against his cheek, that his head whipped to the side and his glasses flew from his face, breaking as they hit the floor.

She had to get Leonard out of her apartment now, or she would quickly be deciding which of her friends she would be calling to help her hide his body; surprisingly, Howard was her first thought. She grabbed at the collar of Leonard's jacket and spoke directly into his face. "Don't. You. Ever. Talk about Sheldon like that." Her anger peeked as she grabbed him by his shirts and threw him out her door, with all the strength of the Nebraskan farm girl she once was, leaving a shocked faced Leonard with a purple hand print, blossoming across his cheek bone, outside before slamming her door shut and falling heavily back against it, sighing in relief.

**Told ya it might get nasty… in no way is this going to be easy on Sheldon and Penny. Lots of surprises along the way for these two, both good and bad… its going to a slow build up for my favorite couple. **


	12. Chapter 12

**i'm giving you 2 chapter today instead of updating tomorrow as i've had them typed and ready to upload for a couple of days, so i decided to just get them out here. The reviews... again WOW. when i started writing i started with the attitude that i didn't care if i got reviews, but now i get so nervous when i see i have new reviews and put of reading them for as long as possible, as im waiting for that inevitable bad review. Enjoy and continue to review.**

Sheldon had heard the end of their argument, he was almost certain that any one passing the building had heard it, they had been that loud. He was surprised to learn that Penny had not been faithful to Leonard or that she didn't really love him. He had sat in his bed and tried to block out their shouting, by listening to a Stephan Hawking lecture on full volume, but it didn't help. Sheldon had come very close to getting up and seeking refuge at Raj or Howards, but mercifully the shouting stopped, only to be replaced by an eerie silence.

He heard the front door open and slam shut, hard enough to cause his own door to vibrate in its hinges, his Vulcan hearing, picking up on Leonard stomping around the living room cursing, using words he was entirely uncomfortable with, being brought up in a Christian house hold. He suddenly felt scared and tiptoed to his bedroom door and locked it, uncertain of just what Leonard was capable of in his current frame of mind. Exactly 49 minuets and 13 seconds later, he heard Leonard slip quietly into his room. He began resisting the periodic table; 1 Hydrogen, 2 Helium, 3 Lithium, 4 Beryllium, 5 Boron, 6 Carbon, 7 Nitrogen, 8 Oxygen, 9 Fluorine, 10 Neon. By the time he reached 93 Neptunium, he had fallen asleep.

His alarm clock woke him at 0630 as usual and he proceeded to perform his morning vocal tests, before making his way to the kitchen for breakfast. Sheldon stopped dead in his tracks at the mouth of the living room; strewn across the apartment were discarded ice packs and half empty bottles of beer, leaking their contents over the floor, table and island. He looked towards his spot and saw several dish cloths balled up and discarded in it. "Good lord" he said as he frantically looked around the rest of the apartment, to make sure there was no further damage. His chest felt tight and his arms felt numb. He was having a heart attack and he knew it. This was how it was going to end; at the hands of his room mate's negligence of cleanliness. He stumbled across the apartment and toward his door.

He pulled it open and made his way across to Penny's, forgoing his usual knock, he pounded away on the door continually until she appeared, clad only in her oversized _Huskers_ shirt. "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what ti-" She stopped as he looked up at her, the pain written across his face as he clutched at her door frame. He managed to squeak out 'Help', before he was being dragged back to his apartment and rushed to his bedroom, the only place that would ever be safe in his apartment ever again. His breath was shallow and he felt light headed. "Sheldon what's wrong? Sweetie?" he heard the urgency in her voice, so he pointed to his chest and then the living room.

"I'm dying Penny. I am experiencing Myocardial infarction – a heart attack." He surprised himself, that even on his death bed he was trying to educate Penny. "I saw the living room and the pain started." He heard her sigh and give a short chuckle; he didn't know what she found even slightly amusing about this situation. "Sheldon you're not having a heart attack. It's a panic attack; they can feel a lot like a heart attack. I had one just before my first audition out here; we just need to distract you, hmmm… I found the beautifullist pair of shoes I have ever seen, the other day, they will go amazingly with this little black dress I have…" she continued to talk about shoes and Sheldon listened intently as the pain began to dissipate, allowing him to breath deeply once again.

"Beautifullist isn't a word Penny. The pains gone now, thank you." Sheldon said as he tried to sit up, but Penny just pushed him down again, with a stern look he had often received from his mother. "Let me clean up the worst of it, or we'll just be back in here again with you in pain." She explained. He let himself fall back down on to the bed as, Penny left to clean up the mess Leonard had made last night. Sheldon began to think of a suitable form of retribution; he most defiantly would not be getting his TV privileges this month, but more would be needed to make sure Leonard paid for the full extent of damage he had done. 10 minuets later penny returned. "Alright that's the worst of it. You should be able to go and clean to your standards now, without dying." She explained.

"Oh, but your couch cushion is going to need to go to the dry cleaners again. It's all sticky from beer and there was an empty bottled stuffed down the side of it. Sheldon stood warily and made his way to the living room, with Penny walking closely behind him, her arms outstretched as if to catch his falling body. His internal organs hurt when he saw the sticky mess and the wet patches, but he didn't feel like he was facing his imminent death. He went to the kitchen and pulled out a red bucket full of cleaning products and several strong disinfectants. He filled the bucket with hot water and 3 cap full's of bleach, before picking up a sponge and starting the clean up. He felt Penny watching him and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

She grabbed the mop and started to clean the floor, while he cleaned every visible work top. He left Penny cleaning the floors and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Taped to the mirror in Leonard's scruffy writing was a note, it read: **Gone to work. Find another way to get there. **He sighed as he stepped into the stream of water and began to wash his hair vigorously, trying to wash the morning from his mind. When he returned to the living room, Penny greeted him with a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of cocoa with seven mini marshmallows.

"Leonard already left for work, would you perhaps be able to take me?"Asked Sheldon, in between spoonfuls. "Sheldon do you think you should be going to work today? She said, allowing her concern to show. He nodded his acquiesce and Penny responded by doubtfully saying. "Alright, I'll take you. Then I will take your cushion to the dry cleaners- your dry cleaner, I know you don't trust mine." She said as he began to interrupt, stating that his cushion needed the utmost care and attention that her dry cleaner couldn't offer.

"I'm sorry for the mess Sheldon, I guess it had something to do with the fact that I broke up with Leonard." She said as he put his bowl in the sink. "You think I didn't hear you? The whole of 2311 North Los Robles heard you." He said in what he thought was a sarcastic tone. "May I wait in your apartment, while you put on some pants." He said as he looked down pointedly at her bare legs.

Leonard had the worlds worst hang over. He had drunk so much last night, drinking one beer after another. He saw the mess he had made as he got up early to avoid taking to Sheldon to work and quickly scribbled a note, not explaining or apologizing. He truly didn't care. He knew that this whole mess with Penny had something to do with Sheldon and he didn't want to see him. When he arrived at the lunch room, he saw Raj, Howard and Sheldon already seated and arguing animatedly about something. He took his food over to the table and sat down beside Howard, who nearly spat his water across the room as he caught a glimpse of his right cheek.

"What the frak happened to your face? Is that a hand print?" he said as he grabbed for Leonard's face. Penny's slap had left him sporting a red-ish, purple- ish hand print bruise across his right cheekbone, which he just couldn't hide. "Holy crap dude! Did Penny do that?" Raj asked warily. Leonard turned to the two men "I don't want to talk about it, but yes. We broke up." Leonard caught the look Raj gave Howard, before he tried to subtly look over at Sheldon, who hadn't said a word since he sat down. "How did you get here Sheldon?" asked Leonard. Sheldon looked up and gave a pointed look to Howard.

"Ugh… Sheldon is pretending that you are dead and that he can no longer see, hear or touch you and will continue to do so, until you apologize… for what , who knows" sighed Howard.

**This was more of an insight into how Sheldon relies on Penny, even if he doesn't know it and that he trusts her. I cant decide if what Leonard did was deliberate or just done in a drunken haze, so I'll let you decide, since I'd like to leave Leonard with some redeeming qualities, although I will inevitably tear them right back down, with the way this story is headed. Train museum up next and a surprise for Penny, which will lead to Sheldon realizing why people- Penny in particular - can't touch him. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Penny was tired; physically from her early start with Sheldon the day before and mentally from all the energy she had been putting in to love Leonard. Now that she wasn't pretending anymore, she felt the waves of exhaustion lapping at her. Thank God she had Friday and Saturday off. On Tuesday night she had asked her manager for an early shift on Thursday, so that she would have plenty of time to relax and get ready for her date with Sheldon. Stop, it's not a date! Sheldon doesn't want to date anyone ever again. She reminded herself and a tiny voice in the back of her head said 'but I bet you could get him to love you'. No she wasn't going to listen to bad Penny right now. So she found herself opening up the cheesecake factory at 9 o'clock, so that she could be home by 5 to order a pizza and get ready to go out (NOT on a date) by 8:30.

The cheesecake factory was dead until 12:30, when the office blocks began emptying as people rushed to grab a bite to eat in the hour they had for lunch. Penny decided to take her break, just as the restaurant started filling up, deciding she needed to call Sheldon. She dialed his office number and waited.

"Hello Dr Cooper's office, Alex speaking, how may I help you?" she said politely. "Hey Alex, can I talk to Sheldon please. It's Penny… his neighbor." Penny added quickly incase she didn't remember her as they had only met once.

"Oh hey. I'm sorry, Dr Cooper has asked me to hold all phone calls unless you are; Stephan Hawking, himself from the future or his mother." Penny remembered hearing the exact same thing when Amy tried to call Sheldon at work. "Will you please just tell him I need to talk to him? He'll talk to me, he's expecting my call." Penny expertly lied. She heard Alex sigh, defeated and Penny smiled.

**Alex POV**

She knocked on his door and waited for his reply, "Come". She heard his muffled reply through the door.

"Dr Cooper you have a phone call" she explained as he looked up from his laptop. "Who is it?" he was practically bouncing in his chair, she could tell he hoped it was his future self. "It's your neighbor Penny, she said you were expecting her call." Explained Alex.

"I'm expecting no such call, but I will talk to her. What line is she on?" he said curtly. "Line 3. Will that be all?" she enquired softly. "Yes that's all" he said, as he waved a dismissive hand signaling for her to leave. Alex couldn't help but wonder if there was something going on between those two, as he wouldn't even accept a phone call from his strange, lurky ex girlfriend Amy. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

Penny sighed and drummed a beat against the counter with her pen. She'd been on hold for 5 minuets and was stuck listening to that stupid music, she very nearly hung up, but Sheldon answered the phone. She could only imagine how much trouble she had caused for his assistant. "Good afternoon Penny. What is so important that you had to interrupt my work?" he said in an exasperated tone. The last time she had called him at work, she'd been stuck in her _age of Conan _addiction. "Nothing, just wanted to chat and ask if you wanted me to order pizza for us before we go out tonight." She said, as she played with the hem of her skirt absentmindedly.

"Penny I do not chat and that won't be necessary. I will be eating my regular Thursday night meal in my apartment and you shall be joining us." He replied in tone that meant there would be no room for arguing. "Fine. I'll be over at 7. See you later." He didn't reply. Her shift flew by and before she knew it she was back home and stepping out of the shower. She was stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear. She finally decided on a dark blue pair of jeans and a white lacy top, with her favorite pair of black ballet pumps. She curled her hair loosely and started on her make up; applying a little less mascara than usual and swiping on coat of strawberry flavored lip gloss.

Just after 7, she strolled through the door of 4A and sat down in between Sheldon and Howard, who continued to argue over her, about something she couldn't understand. The door opened and Leonard came in, holding 3 pizza boxes, he froze as soon as he saw her on the couch. Crap! She had actually forgotten that Leonard lived here too and she quickly looked back at the TV, not caring what she was watching, just grateful for the distraction. She caught a glimpse of his right cheek and cringed a little as she remembered how he had gotten the bruise. She didn't regret how he got it and would never be sorry for why she had done it, but it just served as a reminder of how nasty Leonard could be.

She refused to look at him as he brought the pizza over to the table and sat down in the white chair. No one was talking. Penny looked up to find everyone but Sheldon staring at her "What?" she said nervously. Howard and Raj picked up their plates and started eating in silence. She thought about going back to her apartment, but Leonard stood up and took his plate down the hall to his bedroom. As soon as he was out of ear shot, the conversation picked up again all of them talking comfortably, until Sheldon announced it was time for the two of them to leave. "I need to retrieve something from my room." He quickly said as he shuffled down the hall.

"Okay sweetie. I'll just grab my jacket." When she came back out of her apartment, Sheldon was waiting by his door with a black bag in his hand. "This is for you. I believe that this should sufficiently cover my debt to you, caused by the purchase of my new _Flash_ comic. He explained as he handed her the bag. She frowned confusedly, as she reached in to the bag and pulled out a black box. She opened it and yelped loudly. Shoes! Sheldon had bought her shoes. Not just any shoes; the red pair that she had been fantasying about for weeks.

"OH MY GOD! Sheldon what did you do?! Oh my God. These are incredible, how did you afford these? There really expensive!" she placed the box on the ground and kicked of her black pumps and slipped her feet into her new best friends. She stood up and was nearly eye level with Sheldon, as she flung her arms around his shoulders and planted a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. She knew he'd be furious and probably banish her, but it was worth it. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and hugged him tighter as he carefully and hesitantly placed his hand on her back and patted her gently. That was how Raj and Howard found them, both sharing identical looks of disbelieve. "Look what Sheldon got me!" she squealed as she stuck her left leg out and turned her ankle to give the guys a better look. Raj cooed and Howard look astonished.

"Come on Sheldon, lets go see this train." She said excitedly as she thrust the box at Howard and turned to walk down the stairs in her new heels. As they rounded the first corner, she heard Howard say "I think you could be right about those two." She didn't know what he was talking about and she was too happy to care either way. As soon as they pulled away form the building, Sheldon started chatting happily about trains, rattling off facts about trains from different countries. "You're in luck Penny, this particular train is my favorite and after tonight I'm sure you'll see why. It truly is a remarkable piece of engineering and quiet ahead of it's time." Penny nodded along with his ramblings.

He still hadn't said anything about the kiss, but Penny sure as shootin' wasn't going to bring it up, as he had seemed more accepting of her touches lately, or at least he hadn't cringed away from them. Bad Penny spoke up again 'Maybe he wants you too'. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. They arrived at the museum and Sheldon practically ripped the door out of his way, in his need to get in to the museum.

"Slow down Sheldon. The train's not going anywhere." She laughed as he ran up the steps to the museum doors. "Come on Penny. I want to see if they'll let me blow the whistle." He said as he hopped up and down on the top step, like an excited puppy. She smiled at his enthusiasm as she reached the top step and he ran ahead of her to open the door and usher her inside quickly. She waited inside the door as he came in after her and led her toward the back, to the outside lot. He stopped suddenly and sucked in a breath.

"Look at it Penny, isn't it magnificent." She looked up at him and his face was filled with awe and unashamed joy. She had never seen him look more beautiful and serene than he did in that moment. Her fingers itched to twine themselves with his and her eyes pricked with tears as she realized Sheldon would never look at her the way he was looking at the train. She was jealous of a god damn train! "Yeah, magnificent." She said as she still looked over at him. Just then a man in a conductors get up, stuck his head out of the drivers cabin and said "All aboard" and Sheldon quickly climbed into the cabin, as the conductor turned around to help Penny up too.

"Alright what we have here is a 4-4-0…" Penny stopped listening and just watched as Sheldon eyes got as big as one of those anime characters he watched. How could a grown man love trains so much? "Would you like to blow the whistle sir?" she heard the conductor ask and saw Sheldon stumble backwards.

"Penny did you hear that? He's going to let me blow the whistle. Oh goodie, oh goodie. This is the best day of my life!" he squeaked out ecstatically. "I know sweetie. Wait let me get a picture of you in the conductor's hat… do you mind?" she said as she turned to the other man.

"Not at all miss. Here" he said as he took off the hat and handed it to Sheldon. "Smile sweetie." She said happily as she took several pictures on her phone, before Sheldon started pulling the chord to blow the whistle. Sheldon let out a proper belly laugh at the sound of the whistle blowing and it was nothing like his normal laugh. This one was deep and baritone and caused a shiver to run down Penny's spine. "Your boyfriend sure does like trains." Said the conductor

"Oh I'm not his girlfriend" Penny sighed, at the same time Sheldon said "She's not my girlfriend; she's a girl who's my friend." The man looked between the two of them and then turned to Penny "Oh, but she'd like to be." He said with a wink, causing Penny to blush so much that she was sure her skin would be permanently red. Fortunately Sheldon didn't seem to hear, as he was too busy playing with all the levers in the train. After another 2 hours of watching him play happily, he started to yawn.

"Come on Sheldon, let's get you home. You have work tomorrow." He slid from, the cabin and patted the side once after mumbling a thank you to the conductor. Once back at the car, they slid in and started the drive home. He sneezed once, at the first red light they hit and then again as they turned on to North Los Robles. Uh oh! "You getting a cold Sheldon?" she asked warily. "Impossible. I'm scrupulous about my hygiene and avoid people on principle. Its just dust from the train."

**Oh. Too many feels to contain myself. Up next… would you believe it… Sheldon's sick. **_**That's**_** why he doesn't let people touch him especially Penny, as this is third time she seems to have infected him. Would you believe the irony? i did a final edit last night feeling as healthy as a horse... woke up this morning coughing and sneezing all over the place. I will now be turning into a slightly more mild version of sick Sheldon, walking around in my comforter and demanding to be taken care of. Its only a matter of time before i come a'knockin on all your doors asking for grilled cheese's and that you rub vapor rub on my chest and sing soft kitty. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Penny managed to sleep in until 12:15 the following morning. She felt completely refreshed as she stretched out and kicked the blankets down the bed. She giggled at her ridiculously good mood and jumped out of bed, skipped into the kitchen and pulled down the bottle of red wine she had on top of her fridge. She uncorked it and took a whiff, before upending the bottle over the sink and watched as the burgundy liquid swirled down the drain. She smiled brightly, as if it was her relationship with Leonard that was being washed away. She sat down on the couch and pulled out her cell to look at the pictures of conductor Sheldon – they were defiantly worthy of _Facebook_. She had managed to snap a picture of him, while he had his head thrown back, as he let out that toe curling, spine tingling laugh. She made the picture Sheldon's new caller ID and thought back to what the conductor had said last night.

Surely it hadn't been that obvious that she had feelings for Sheldon. She'd spoke to the conductor for all of 30 minuets and he'd already figured out her little secret? Then she remembered what she had overheard between Howard and Raj, last night. Her eyes widened and she gasped; they knew something was changing between her and Sheldon (even if Sheldon didn't know it). She held her head in her hands; she thought she'd been so careful, not to act any differently around Sheldon, than she had before she realized her feelings for him were becoming more than just friendship. She had to talk to them to find out what they thought they knew and before they went blabbing to anyone else. Her downward spiral was interrupted by a phone ringing. "Hello?" she said politely, hoping that it wasn't work calling her to come in. "Hi. It's Leonard." His tone was clipped and forced, making her sit up straight on the couch, nervously.

"Umm… what's up?" she asked hesitantly. "Sheldon's sick and needs to come home from work. I'm his emergency contact, but I can't leave, I'm busy. He has you listed as a secondary contact, so I told him I'd call you to find out if you can bring him home?" he said quickly, getting right down to the point. She could tell she didn't want to be asking for her help, but he had no other choice. "Sure I'll be there in 20 minuets. Where shall I pick him up from?" she asked in an equally forced tone.

"He'll be in his office. I'll make sure he knows your coming to get him." There was a drawn out silence before he spoke again. "Thanks"

"No problem. Can you make sure he's ready to go when I get there, has he eaten yet?"She asked calmly, hoping to end this conversation. "No, not yet… I have to go." He replied before hanging up. Penny's breath puffed out of her. Well first awkward conversation done, but it would take a lot of apologizing from Leonard – and if she was honest with herself, she had a lot to apologize for too - before she could even consider trying to have a friendship with him again. They'd found themselves in the same position after their last break up; treating Sheldon like their child, both being civil for his sake, except this time the communication between the two of them would be even more strained. She pulled on a pair of shorts, hoodie and a pair of orange flip flops, before tying her hair up into a high pony tail and headed out the door. When she arrived at the university, she had to ask at the reception for directions to Sheldon's office.

The old lady behind the desk looked at her like she was insane, as she said she was there to take Sheldon home. She pointed her in the right direction and handed her a campus map after muttering a very quiet 'good luck'. Penny was useless at reading maps and found herself in the basement, before finally she found herself in the physics department. As she rounded the corner, Alex stopped her and latched on to her arm, a crazed look in her eyes.

"You're here to take Dr Cooper home right?" Penny nodded and Alex's death grip on her arm loosened. "Thank GOD! Just get him out of here…PLEASE. He is driving me crazy, jabbering on about enemas and soft kitties or something and that it's your fault." Penny chuckled and patted Alex on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I'll get him out of your hair." Penny stepped around her and walked to Sheldon's office; the door was wide open and he was standing in front of his white board, wrapped in his parka, hat and scarf, despite how warm it was – even for February. "Hey Sheldon, lets get you tucked up in bed okay?" she didn't know why she felt the need to take care of him when he was sick, when she knew perfectly well he could do it himself, but chose not to. He whipped around quickly and stumbled slightly, gripping his head, saying 'Ow'.

"YOU! You did this to me!" he was trying to sound angry, but his voice kept cracking and sounded stuffy. She walked behind him and gave him a gentle push toward the door and out to her car. Once she had the doors unlocked and he was sitting comfortably in his seat, she pulled out of the parking garage, with him mumbling the whole way home about shoes and corn husking antibodies. She got him up the stairs, snatched the keys out of his hand and guided him through the apartment, instructing him to put on his Pj's. As much as she hated taking care of sick Sheldon, it was the one and only time, he wouldn't say no to her and he would do exactly as she said. She put in some bread to toast and heated up some chicken soup.

She carried it down the hall way toward his bedroom when it was ready. He was tucked up under his comforter in the middle of the bed, hat and scarf still on. "Okay, regular rules apply; no sponge baths and no enemas. Here, sit up and eat your soup." She said, using her mothering tone that she had quickly learnt to adopt, when looking after Sheldon. She sat the bowl down on the bedside table, noticing the vapor rub already sat out. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and smoothed out his blanket before opening his mouth. It took Penny a moment to figure out that he wanted her to feed him. "Sheldon, can't you do that yourself?" she whined.

"Please, please, please. I don't have the strength to do it." He begged and gave her puppy dog eyes. She sighed and picked up the bowl and spoon. She considered saying 'Open wide! Here comes the choo choo train', but Sheldon didn't approve of playing with food, even in his sick state. After he finished eating, she tiptoed to the door - as he looked like he was nearly asleep – grateful that she had been spared having to put vapor rub on his chest. Penny really did not want to touch his bare chest right now; as she couldn't be certain, that if bad Penny came out to play she would be able to, or want to control her.

"Where are you going? You haven't rubbed vapor rub on my chest yet." He said sleepily. Penny wanted to cry, as she was sure he could read her mind and she whimpered as she shut the door and went to sit back on his bed, curling her legs under her. Sheldon unbuttoned his shirt, lifted the white under shirt up and looked at her expectantly. She dipped her fingers into the jar and started to rub – counter clockwise. She began to admire the chest under her fingers; he had a little bit of hair, nothing over the top and although he wasn't bulging with muscles, they were there, or had the potential to be there. Her eyes dropped to his stomach and took in its hardness and flatness. There was a very faint shadow of that delicious 'V', by his narrow hips, that Penny adored. Her eyes continued to roam over his abdomen and stopped at his belly button; she had the most overwhelming desire to dip her tongue into it, in the most sinful of ways that would make Sheldon blush 10 ways to Sunday. Just under his belly button was a lone freckle that was the start of a very faint dusting of hair that led down, down… down.

Bad Penny defiantly made herself known, taking over the rest of Penny's brain, coaching her to keep… looking… down. She was talking to that tiny part of sane Penny that still remained 'That's it, just look a little lower. We both know what is at the end of _this_ trail.' She coaxed and Penny's eyes actually went there, to that secret place and locked on. 'MAYDAY, MAYDAY. SOS. PENNY LOOK AWAY! IN THE NAME OF GOD…LOOK AWAY!' the rational part of Penny screamed, but was being drowned out by the blood pounding in Penny's ears.

She could feel the blush creeping up her neck to stain her cheeks, but she was powerless. She could have been staring at his crotch, for seconds or hour's, she'd been hypnotized by the simple idea, of what it was that could be hiding in his pants. God help her, if she ever got the opportunity to actually get up close and personal with what he was packing. By the grace of God, Sheldon spoke and freed her.

"Thank you Penny. I'd like to sleep now." He said quickly and her eyes snapped up to meet his. She stumbled over her words in her haste to escape his room. "Okay, I'll be in the living room if you need me." She practically ran from the room and shut the door behind her, leaning on the wall next to it. What the heck just happened?!

**Just a very, very tiny indication of what to come. I originally included a Sheldon POV for when Penny was checking out his deal, but I decided it was a little premature(Nothing happened - physically or otherwise- between them). Who knows, maybe it'll make an appearance in a later chapter as I really don't want to rush Sheldon and Penny into a physical relationship. I mean, heck… Sheldon still doesn't feel anything more than friendship with her at the moment or if he does, he can't recognize it as he hasn't experienced it before. It will be changing soon though I promise, as Penny will soon be revealing her feelings to Bernadette and talking to Howard and Raj about what they think they know. Any way I'm rambling on, someone stop me? On a completely unrelated topic; someone (I don't remember who) gave me the most amazing piece of advise the other day, that was really relevant to me, since I dropped out of college last month and basically in one sentence explained why I left, so I though I'd share it with the masses. It was: 'Never give up on something, you can't go a day without thinking about'. Continue to review and enjoy. Love you all.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 **

**Well it's been over a week since I updated this story but I've been so distracted, you know, life gets in the way and prevents me from getting these crazy thoughts out of my head. Plus I've been rediscovering my love of Elvis. Any way here you go… hopefully I will update again at some point this week. Continue to review and enjoy, it really keeps me motivated. Love you all.**

Sheldon couldn't help but notice Penny's absence from the group over the days following his illness. He'd been over to her apartment several times, but it always seemed that he just missed her coming or leaving home. On Tuesday night he felt even more uneasy about the situation, when he looked up to give his order to Penny and found a man waiting instead. When he'd asked where she was, the waiter informed him that Penny's hours had been switched that week, so he'd been forced to eat his Barbeque burger with the bacon, cheese and barbeque sauce _in_ the burger, not on the side as he preferred. He texted Penny when he arrived home, after telling a still slightly disgruntled Leonard, that he was going to bed.

_Sheldon: Why were you not at work tonight? I was forced to endure an even lower quality of service than you provide. They got my order completely wrong. _ He typed quickly and waited apprehensively for her reply, which came exactly one hour later.

_Penny: My hours got switched. Why didn't you send your food back to the kitchen if they got the order wrong?_

He sighed and shook his head as he read her message

_Sheldon: Penny, if by some miracle you have taught me anything in the seven years I've known you, it is that; you never return an order of food to the kitchen, or you are likely to end up with spit in your food._

_Penny: What makes you think I don't spit in your food when I'm working and you make me take it back to the kitchen? _

A sharp shiver went up his spine at the thought that Penny would actually spit in his, or any other paying customer's food. He started to respond angrily with shaking hands, before he realized that she just trying to taunt him.

_Sheldon: I trust that you would never commit such a heinous act. You are my friend. _He sent the text and waited for her reply.

_Penny: Thank you; you're my friend too…maybe even best friend ;)_

He frowned as he read her words. He'd never had a female best friend; he'd tried with Amy, but that had resulted in her quickly becoming his girlfriend, something that he still never wanted to happen, but he'd foolishly given into peer pressure and that had lead to completely unwanted physical contact, which effectively ended their 'relationship'.

_Sheldon: yes well, social convention dictate that friends inquire as to why their friends have, for all intents and purposes, disappeared for several days. So I ask; where have you been since Friday evening?_

_Penny: I think I caught what you had, I'm better now though…why? Did you miss me?_

He snorted a little. Ah vengeance is indeed sweet, he thought to himself, his 'I just killed batman' smile on his lips.

She hadn't been sick; she'd desperately been trying to avoid Sheldon like the plague. It had been one thing to dream about him, but since Friday she had been fantasizing about him during the day too, so in some way she had been sick – love sick? She had switched her hours at work so that she could gather her thoughts and get her feelings in order before she had to see him again, but she had missed him and the nerd heard, with the exception of one of them. Her cell vibrated in her hand with his reply.

_Sheldon: I believe we are in fact, to use your vernacular; even. Hardly, I was merely inquiring as to your well being as my duty as you're most valued friend. Will you be joining us for halo tomorrow night?_

_Penny: Sure. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night Sheldon._

Penny didn't want to be falling in love with a man who could never love her back, not the way she was used to being loved at least. She threw her phone and watched as it bounced harmlessly against the arm rest of the couch. She curled up on her side and pulled her afghan around her tightly as she began to drift off to sleep.

She woke up suddenly, gasping and gripping her blanket tightly in her hands, twisting it in her fists. Since she had realized who it was she was dreaming about, it had opened a door to some pretty horrible nightmares too. The most recent dream centered on the day Amy made a move on Sheldon; she had heard him desperately calling for her, but when she ran to his apartment she couldn't find him, no matter where she looked. So she'd been stuck in some kind of torture, as Sheldon screamed her name over and over again, but she couldn't help him. She needed a strong drink. She went to the kitchen and pulled out the almost empty bottle of vodka she had stored there, unscrewed the cap and took a sip. Almost instantly, she wanted to spit it out; alcohol had been her go to, when she was with Leonard and she defiantly wasn't going to make that same mistake again. Stumbling through the living room to her bedroom she flopped down on her bed heavily.

Left alone with her thoughts, she started to feel a tiny bubble of anger forming in her chest. When had she ever been scared to tell _anyone, _how she felt about them? Since she was a little girl, her dad had always told her to go and chase what she wanted, not wait for it to come to you. She had lived religiously by those words; they had brought her to LA to become an actress, so why was this any different with what she wanted now? The problem was the thing she wanted most, was a stubborn, eccentric, beautiful mind genius. She giggled shyly, as she remembered calling him that the day she met the boys of 4A.

She had flirted with him that day – shamelessly flirted! First over at his board, then in his spot. She bit her lip as she thought about how he put his hand on top of his board and gave her a flirtatious smile, even though he probably didn't know it. She wondered what would have happened, if Leonard hadn't interrupted them and called her to look at his board, maybe things could have been different. She stopped thinking about 'what if?' and rolled on to her back and put her pillow over her eyes to block out the morning light that was beginning to filter through her window.

Penny was bent over the island in 4A watching intently, as Howard and Sheldon were engaged in deep game play, with Raj at her side. "Hello Penny, Penny?" Raj called in a sing song voice, calling her attention back to him. She still hadn't gotten completely used to the idea that he could willingly talk to women now, without first having to drink alcohol.

"Hmm, what? Sorry what are you talking about?" she said quickly, turning to look at him. He smiled at her wryly and raised his eyebrows at her. "Yes I'm talking to you, have you been listening to a word I've been saying? Or are you too busy staring at people?" she grimaced and twirled the bottle of water she was holding, in her hands and took a long drink. "I'm not staring at anyone… I've just been distracted with school and stuff, you know?" she said, trying to sound nonchalant and shrugging her shoulders. Inwardly, she cursed Raj. Why couldn't he be just like all other oblivious guys, but oh no. He can be far too tuned in with how women feel, despite how much trouble he seems to have, meeting a woman of his own. He smiled at the faint hint of a blush on her cheeks

"So where have you been since Friday, when you rescued the university from Sheldon?" he asked and she sighed in relief at the change of subject. "I think I caught whatever I apparently gave Sheldon. You know after I hugged him and infected him with germs on Thursday" Her thoughts wheeled backwards to what she had heard on the stairs on Thursday night as they left for the train museum. "What did Howard mean when he said 'I think you might be right about those two'?" she asked quietly, looking Raj directly in the eye. He shuffled and turned his back on her, rummaging in the fridge. "Umm, I'm not sure." He said cautiously.

"Raj…" she spoke with an unsaid warning ringing clearly in her voice. He turned around and look at her sheepishly and then glanced toward the couch where the guys where, minus Leonard, who claimed he had to work late. She slapped her hand down on the counter top to pull his attention away from what ever he was desperately trying to signal to Howard. He made a low whining sound and sighed "Fine. Just before you and Leonard broke up – actually I think it was the day you broke up – I was talking to Leonard and Howard, while Sheldon was in the bathroom at the cheesecake factory. It was when you refused to see Leonard for a couple of days and he was moaning about how you wouldn't see him, but you were happily spending your time with Sheldon.

Howard made some typical sarcastic comment that, since Sheldon didn't have a girlfriend anymore he was making a move on you. I _may_ have said that I thought you two would make an incredible couple and then when you took him out on Thursday and we saw you hugging, which is completely out of character for him, you know? Howard said he thought I might be right in what I thought." He dropped his head and looked up at her through his lashes, she was sure her face was giving away her shock.

She was honestly surprised that her friends thought they'd be good together. She looked at the living room where Sheldon was changing the game play options so that they could play teams, while Howard was in the bathroom. Raj started talking again, slightly louder this time. "He didn't even complain that you hugged him and he hugged you back. When he accidently drank from Leonard's glass he thought he was going to die... granted you did get him sick by hugging him, but still…" he trailed off as Sheldon entered the kitchen, having heard Raj's observation and deciding to put his idea in the mix.

"While I agree with your hypothesis, that it was my close proximity to Penny that caused my immune system to be challenged. I believe that the hug was not the cause, no I am more inclined to believe it was the kiss… oh good, my turn to use the bathroom… Dibs on Penny!" he casually said as he headed off in the direction of the bathroom as Howard sat back down in the living room, completely unaware of what he had just left in his wake. Penny's eyes widened and Raj 'eeped', his mouth hanging open. She was looking anywhere in the room, other than at the man who was jumping up and down on the spot. "YOU AND Sheldon KISSED!?" he said, loud enough to cause Howard to drop the red vine he was munching on. No, no, no! This was not how this conversation was supposed to turn out. They weren't supposed to find out about that kiss now, maybe not ever.

"It's not what you think… I was just so overwhelmed at the fact that he got me shoes, I couldn't help myself… it wasn't even a proper kiss." She began blurting out every possible excuse she could think of, knowing that she was probably making a bigger problem for herself, than she needed to. Howard was suddenly next to her, looking so shocked it was verging on funny "He let you kiss him?" he asked in amazement. Penny refused to answer him, so instead looked at the floor and tried to calm the furious blush that had spread over her entire body, as she listened to the two men talking quietly. "Oh my god, I don't believe it. How did he not freak out about that? He cant even shake someone hand with flipping out" said Howard in disbelief "Aha, I love it when I'm right. Dude I bet that was Sheldon's first kiss! Ohh how romantic, I said they'd be a great couple 'Penny Cooper'… oh that has such a nice ring to it 'Dr and Mrs. Sheldon Cooper', mhmm I like that even better." Penny's breath caught in her throat at Raj's daydreaming, it did have a nice ring to- no! Don't get your hopes up, she told herself, while Raj was flapping a hand near his face, as if to hold back to tears.

"Shh! I only kissed the corner of his mouth, we're not a couple." She said, finally looking up at them. She obviously hadn't held back her disappointment at that fact well enough, as Raj clamped his hand down on Howard's arm and asked the very question she knew they would ask. "But do you want to be? Do you _like _like Sheldon?!" Penny hesitated, torn between finally admitting it aloud that she liked Dr Sheldon freaking Cooper and flat out lying and denying what was obviously true. She looked between her friends and chewed nervously on her lower lip "HOLY CRAP. YOU DO!" Howard said, almost too loudly. She started to shake her head, but Raj began speaking. "Ah yes. But the question is; does he like you too?" this caused a laugh to escape her lips.

"How could he like me back? I'm not a genius, or a scientist. Sheldon doesn't want another relationship; he didn't even want Amy to be his girlfriend. He only asked her because he didn't want to loose her friendship and look what happened; she goes all fatal attraction on him, because he didn't want to have sex with." She said quietly, but forcefully. "Hah! You admitted it… wait did you leave Leonard for Sheldon?" Howard asked fervently. She clamped her jaw shut so hard her teeth began to ache. "Ugh, no. I left Leonard because he is insecure, controlling, we had nothing in common and most importantly I don't love him, the way he wants me to love him. Yes, I knew that I liked Sheldon as more than just a friend, when we were still together. But I never did anything about it and probably never will." She huffed out a breath, as she realized just how much of her sensitive side, she had let the guys see. "If either of you say anything about this to _anybody_ – that includes Bernadette – I will kick, both your asses so hard, you wont be able to sit down for a month. Do you understand?" she said menacingly as she heard the toilet flush. "Don't worry, your secrets safe with us. Oh, oh Howard we can be Cupid and Kamadeva and help Sheldon realize he has feelings for her too, even if he doesn't know it yet." He squeaked gleefully.

"NO! You two are not going to force Sheldon into wanting to be with me. Look at what happened the last time you guys made Sheldon date. If he feels something for me, then he has to figure it out on his own and if he asks for your help or your advice, then help him. But I don't want you manipulating mine and Sheldon's friendship. I'd rather be completely in love with him and have him as my friend, than have you two trick him into a relationship with me that he won't want and then we'll both have lost a friend." Raj's eyes were filled with tears when she stopped talking. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sheldon re entered the room and sat in his spot. They all moved to the living room, exchanging sideways looks, as Penny sat, in what had always been known as, her spot next to Sheldon's. He handed her, her controller and their finger tips brushed, which seemed so much more significant, now that people knew how she felt. She turned to face the TV and scrolled through the game options, selecting her favorite weapon; the rocket launcher. "Dibs on Penny!" Howard shouted enthusiastically, thinking that he'd got to her first. Both Penny and Sheldon opened their mouths to tell him that Sheldon had already 'called' her, but Raj got there first.

"Sorry dude, Sheldon already called her." he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows toward Howard. "No fair! They are an amazing team" replied Howard with an indicative smile, as Penny shot him a look that would drop birds from the sky. "Indeed we are" Sheldon said smugly, looking down at her. "3, 2, 1… GO!" he said excitedly, while the other two looked at Penny who was biting her lip and glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Oh God, what had she just opened herself up to by telling the guys about how she felt? She knew that they would involve themselves in the situation somehow, despite what she told them. But she couldn't deny; it felt good to have someone else know how she felt about Sheldon.

**I truly didn't intend to make Howard and Raj such a big part of this Fic; they were only supposed to be here to add a little more character interaction, but they turned out to be the biggest shenny supporters of all and will help in the development of their relationship. Leonard is going to stop being such a tool pretty soon, but I'm not sure if I want to bring Amy back, for Penny to confront, so I'm open to suggestions about that point. Once again thank you, love you all. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Penny was lying on her bedroom floor, half of her body under the bed, looking for her black dress for girl's night with Bernadette. She was suspicious; as the day after she had told the guys about Sheldon, Bernie called her asking if she wanted to go out on for a girl's night on Friday. She pushed boxes around under the bed, still looking for her dress and growled as she realized it wasn't under there. She moved back to the closet to check it again, but it wasn't there; she hadn't worn it in weeks, the last time was when she and Leonard had doubled with Bernadette and Howard. She sat down to check if it had fallen of its hanger and was on the floor. As she shifted shoes out of the way, she found a cardboard box and puffed out her cheeks as she looked inside; it was a box of the things that Leonard had given her or had left in her apartment: a letter, a rose, a couple of shirts and a few of his asthma inhalers.

Knock, knock, knock "Penny"

Knock, knock, knock "Penny"

Knock, knock, knock "Penny"

She put everything back in the box and decided to give all back to Leonard when things where slightly less awkward between them. "Come in Sheldon, I'm in my bedroom" she shouted toward the door. It opened and closed quickly as she looked up to see Sheldon stop at the door to her room. "Penny?" he asked curiously "Down here Moonpie" she smiled as she waved her hand at him, from where she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by clothes. "What can I do for you?" she asked as she stood up and pushed things out of the way with her foot. "Firstly; No one but Meemaw call's me Moonpie and secondly; can I spend the evening here? Leonard has invited Leslie Winkle over and I have no desire to stay there while they engage in coitus." He said as he sat down and began folding a pile of clothes, absentmindedly. She smiled at the fact that folding clothes was like a form of torture for her, but it was Sheldon's go to when he was stressed or upset.

"I was actually going to have a girl's night with Bernadette tonight, since we haven't seen each other in a while. But I can not find my black dress _anywhere_ and I really wanted to wear it tonight, with the shoes you got me… you know, take them out to be baptized." She sighed as she glanced around the room, hoping that that the dress would suddenly be there. She heard Sheldon snort and she raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. "It's not surprising that you can't find anything, in this swirling vortex of entropy… what does it look like?" He asked, as he stood up and placed the neatly folded stack of clothes on her night stand. "It's the black one I wore that time you came out with me, Bernadette and… never mind." She didn't know if mentioning Amy was a good idea or not. "Do you remember the one I'm talking about?" he turned to look at her mockingly. "Of course I remember it, how could I forget. I have an eidetic memory; this brain forgets nothing. However that particular is currently hanging in Leonard's closet." He explained confidently.

Ugh! Of course it was at Leonard's. She raised her eyebrows and cringed a little at what she was about to ask Sheldon. "Sweetie do you think you'd be able to go and get it for me?" he started to argue, but she had already come up with a deal, that hopefully, he wouldn't be able to resist. "If you do it, I'll drive you anywhere you want for the next to weeks." She said in a sing song voice, hoping to tempt him into agreeing. He pursed his lips as he thought about it. "One month. Final offer." A month?! She thought and was about to argue, but she had to get the dress back some how. "Fine, a month… can you give this to Leonard too?" she said as she handed him the box. He nodded and quickly left and headed back to his apartment.

He came back surprisingly quickly, as Penny was sure that Leonard would have tried to cause some kind of problem for Sheldon, although she couldn't be sure he didn't. He opened her door, her dress draped across his arm. "Leonard says that he will return anything you left in our apartment at a later date, which most likely means he'll have me return it to you. However with regards to tonight, I still have no where to go while Leonard entertains his lady friend – and I use the term lady, loosely." He said thoughtfully. "Well, you're welcome to come out dancing with me and Bernadette, I'm sure she won't mind and I promise not to get drunk; me and alcohol have said goodbye for now." She explained as she took her dress from Sheldon and started walking backwards toward the bedroom. He nodded curtly "Very well. I will accompany you." He said as he made his way to the spot he chose on Penny's couch. "Great. Just give me 10 minuets and we can go." He raised his eyebrows in disbelief and chuckled. "Fine, half an hour." she said as she shut the door.

When the taxi pulled up outside the club, she spotted Bernadette waiting just by the door and waved at her, as Sheldon paid the driver. "Hey Penny… and Sheldon?" she said as he appeared over Penny's shoulder. Penny looked down at her Bernadette, who was giving her a knowing look. She was 100% positive that Howard had told Bernadette about what had happened on Wednesday night. Howard was in for the ass kicking of his life, when she saw him next. Penny started walking toward the door, when Bernie stopped her "Hold on, we have to wait for Howie." Bernadette said as she looked down the street to see if he was coming yet. Penny let out a frustrated sigh "So much for girl's night" she said.

"I know, but when I told Howard where we going, he said he wanted to come and who can say no to that face? Besides… you brought Sheldon along" Bernadette replied with a wink, just as Howard appeared next to her and looped her arm through his. Penny scowled at him as he looked up at her. She was trying to send a 'You are a dead man' message to him, but either he didn't understand or chose to ignore her. "Shall we go in…? Sheldon? What are you doing here?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused. "He's Penny's date." Bernadette giggled as Penny frantically shook her head at her, telling her to stop. Why did she think bringing Sheldon was a good idea? She reached her hand behind her and grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him in front of her, before placing her hand in between his shoulder blades and pushing him through the door, avoiding the looks that were going on between the… what's the word Sheldon would use… conspirators? Yeah conspirators.

**Short one I know, but this was a set up chapter for the next one, which should be coming to you in a few days, once I've ironed out the kinks. Already starting to formulate Amy's return…**_**Dun, Dun, Duunn!**_** Reviews are once again, much appreciated and motivating. Love you all! once again sorry for the delay in updating. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**Okay, this chapter was an absolute **_**Bitch **_**to upload, seriously don't know what was going on with it. So I know the previous chapter was short and could have been kept attached to this one, but I've got two kinda long chapters coming up and I was frustrated that it had been over a week again since I updated, so I had to give you something, while I made some slight modifications. Any who…Enjoy and review.**

When they finally found an empty table, they all took a seat, while Penny was busy trying to explode Howard's brain with her mind. She watched as Bernadette leaned in to him and mumbled something. Oh no! Howard nodded and stood up and smiled at Penny "I'm going to get a drink, Bernie do you want one?" he asked. Penny narrowed her eyes at the couple suspiciously; this whole situation seemed too well rehearsed. "Sure, I'll have my usual" he nodded and looked to Sheldon, who was looking around the room blankly, clearly unimpressed and bored. "Hey buddy. Why don't you come with me to get you and Penny a drink?" Penny was praying that Sheldon would say no and save her from the questions that were about to be thrown at her at. Sheldon stood up and her stopped. "Penny, would you like a beverage? And please be aware of the promise you made to me not one hour ago, with regards to alcohol consumption." He said warningly. "Umm, I'll drink whatever you're having." She smiled tightly and watched as Howard clipped his shoulder and turned him in the direction of the bar. As soon as they left the table, Bernadette pounced.

"Sooo… anything you want to tell me?" she asked pointedly, making Penny look down and nervously pick at her nail polish. "No. I don't think so. Works the same, schools the same." She refused to look up as she answered. "Wrong answer Penny. What's this I hear about you liking Sheldon? Did you really kiss him? How long have you liked him for?" her questions seemed never ending. Penny was going to end the line of Wolowitz. "Yes, okay, I like Sheldon and I guess I have since the day I met him, but I didn't realize it until a few weeks ago okay. How did you find out anyway? I told Howard and Raj not to tell anyone." Penny quickly explained, trying to shift the conversation away form herself.

"I forced him to tell me. He came home on Wednesday, practically jumping up and down and singing it from the roof tops. Does Leonard know?" she replied cheerily. Penny shouted her response "No and he can't know, not until I know what's happening… even then, maybe he shouldn't know." Bernadette reached across the table and took her hand in hers and gave it a tight squeeze. "Alright. I just don't know how you can keep this a secret. It's just so unbelievable" she said animatedly and Penny sighed.

Howard cleared a path for them to get to the bar, however people still kept colliding with him and forcing their plague invested bodies upon him. Sheldon made a disgusted noise as he saw several people partaking in multiple shots. Howard stopped and turned around to pull Sheldon in front of him to order his and Penny's drinks; the bar tender leaned in far too close to hear his order and forced Sheldon to lean away uncomfortably. "What can I get you pal?" the bar tender shouted over the deafening music. "I'll have 2 virgin Cuba Libres please" Sheldon said with forced politeness, he watched as Howard shook his head and chuckled. "Really? We both know that Penny's just gonna, send you right back to order another drink" he said with raised eyebrows, while he tapped his fingers to the beat; his rhythm was a millisecond ahead of the music, that was blaring from the large speakers over head. "Penny said she would have the same as me. Additionally she seems to have currently given up consuming alcohol. She also promised me that she wouldn't become intoxicated tonight; something I find highly commendable." Sheldon replied, in a tone that others might assume was pride. He was handed his drinks, paid the bar tender and turned to weave his way back to their table. Howard pulled on his elbow and Sheldon stopped, turning back to face Howard with the intent to chastise him, but Howard started talking.

"We should let the gals talk for a while, since we crashed girl's night and I don't know about you, but I personally don't want to listen to them talk about shoes all night." He said as he bobbed his head and scanned the dance floor. "Very well" Sheldon replied as he sipped at his drink and looked back toward his table. Penny and Bernadette seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation, with Penny frantically shaking her head at what ever it was that Bernadette was asking her. Sheldon titled his head to the side and furrowed his brow. What could Penny possibly be so against that would cause her to disagree so vehemently with Bernadette? Sheldon could feel eyes boring into him and quickly turned his head and caught Howard staring at him with a smirk on his face. He followed Sheldon's eye line and looked back at him smugly. "What you looking at, Sheldon?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Penny, she seems to be distressed, perhaps we should intervene before they both, get us forcibly removed from the establishment. Not that, that would be a bad thing." Sheldon explained, as he turned and picked up Penny's drink and began to head back.

When he arrived, the conversation seemed to stop and both women had broad smiles on their faces; perhaps he had read the situation wrong, which was more than likely, given how terrible he was at reading facial expressions. He motioned for Penny to move over, so that he could take his seat and handed her, her drink. "Alright, what is it that I'm drinking?" asked Penny, curiously as she gingerly took a sip. She smiled as she looked up at Sheldon "Ah of course. Virgin Cuba Libres" she giggled a little as she took another sip. Sheldon turned around to find Howard and Bernadette watching his and Penny's exchange, with excited looks on their faces; Sheldon was beginning to feel like there was a plot afoot and opened his mouth to say so, just as Bernadette picked up her drink. "I'd like to propose a toast; to friendship and to getting everything we want. Cheers." All four of them raised their glasses and once again he found the engineer and his wife quickly looking between himself and Penny. This will make for an intriguing entry in to my daily interaction log, he thought to himself.

Howard whispered something to Bernadette and she laughed, causing Sheldon to narrow his eyes at the pair, suspiciously. "What's so funny, guys?" Penny asked as she chewed on the end of the straw. "I was just telling Bernie, how beautiful she looks tonight and that I'm the luckiest man on earth." Howard explained to Penny, which for some reason caused her to smile even more brightly at them, while Sheldon snorted scornfully. "There's no such thing as luck and even if there were, you most certainly wouldn't be the luckiest man on earth." Sheldon retorted as Bernadette frowned at him. "Don't you think Penny looks beautiful too tonight, Sheldon?" she asked and Sheldon caught Penny's sharp head shake, out of the corner of his eye.

He shrugged and looked over at her; she was blushing under his scrutinizing gaze. Penny was, what modern society would deem as beautiful, there was no denying that and he had in fact told her told her this once, when she first played _Halo_ with them, as he had said ' no one can be that attractive and this skilled at a video game'. He turned back to Bernadette "I suppose that by modern standards, Penny is, to use your terminology; beautiful." He said. Penny gently touched her finger tips to the back of his hand and moved them in a small circle "Thank you sweetie, that means a lot coming from you." She quietly told him. He nodded his head once and looked down at her hand on his; it was soft and warm. "Penny, do you think that given your most recent exchange of germs with me, that you should be holding my hand, or indeed touching me at all?" he asked calmly, as she quickly removed her hand form his. Oddly he didn't feel the need to dive into his pocket for his hand sanitizer, or run to the nearest restroom to wash his hands, partly out of fear, of what he would find in the bathroom.

As the night drew on, the club began to feel overwhelmingly crowded and hot as more people piled in slowly. Bernadette grasped at Penny's hand to pull her up "Come and dance with me Penny, this is my favorite song!" she clapped her hands enthusiastically, while Howard slid out of his seat to let them through. "Hold the table Sheldon. I have to use the bathroom." Howard said and turned to leave. Sheldon sighed as he left and turned back to look to where Bernadette had dragged Penny to. It took him a moment to locate them, but as soon as he did, he took in the way they moved to the music. He focused on Penny as she was easier to observe and watched as she swiveled her hips and twirled to the music. There was absolutely no discipline, structure or reasoning to the way she moved – she danced the same way, she lived every other aspect of her life: chaotically.

He found himself transfixed, with the vigor she put into the dance and wondered why she didn't use the same energy at work or at auditions. Howard had rejoined him at some point, although he couldn't be sure when as he had been entirely focused on the way Penny danced. Howard had a satisfied look on his face, when the girls shimmied back to the table, laughing. As the night was winding down and they were starting to get ready to leave, a man approached the table "Hey do you want to dance or something?" he leered at Penny. "No thanks" she cheerfully replied, but this man was persistent with his endeavor. "Come on, all I'm asking for is one little dance. You're breaking my heart, babe." he said as he leaned in closer, the smell of alcohol dripping from his breath was so strong, it made Sheldon feel as if he was becoming intoxicated. "I said no." Penny replied, as she looked to Sheldon for his input. He felt a sharp kick under the table and whipped his head toward Penny, as that was the direction the impact came from and he bent over to rub at his bruised shin. Penny was obviously trying to communicate something to him, but for all he knew, she could have been signaling that she was hungry. Sheldon looked to Howard for assistance; something he never thought he'd have to do and Howard rolled his eyes at him.

"Sorry buddy. She's here with her boyfriend."Howard explained as he waved his hand across the table at Sheldon. "I'm no-OW" Sheldon began to dispute what Howard had said, but three hard kicks from all the other occupants at the table, had him whimpering in pain and shutting up. He coughed to cover his pain and reluctantly moved closer to Penny and took her hand in his, twining their fingers together. "Yes, I'm her boyfriend" he explained tightly with a sharp head nod. He briefly made eye contact with the man who stood next to him and felt his face begin to twist through the lie, so he looked down at their hands, which were resting on his thigh. A harsh laugh pulled him away from his thoughts "Seriously, you're with this guy?" he asked dubiously, pointing his finger in Sheldon's direction. Penny turned her head in defiance and refused to answer the question, while she gripped on to Sheldon tighter. "What's it got to do with you?" she asked harshly.

"Nothing… I just wanted one little dance since you're 'boyfriend' here, hasn't danced with you all night." He quickly explained and held his hands up in front of him defensively. A thought quickly popped into Sheldon's head and he pursed his lips as he thought about it. If he was going to be forced in to playing the part of the boyfriend, then it would be done convincingly. Sheldon was never one to do anything by half measures and he hated to loose; to anyone. One of the only useful things he learnt from his father was 'go big or go home' and it was a philosophy he applied to all aspects of his life. He shooed the drunk aside, with a flick of his wrist and moved to get out of his seat, before Penny stopped him with a tug on his sleeve. "Sheldon, what are you doing?" she asked, sounding concerned as her eyes flicked between him and the man lurking over his shoulder.

He frowned at Penny and continued to pull at her arm, until she was standing next to him. "Would you like to dance… Darlin'" Sheldon dug his nails into his palm in an attempt to control the violent twitch, which was trying to take over his face. "Sheldon you really don't have to that; I know you don't like dancing." Penny explained softly and Sheldon very nearly agreed with her as he took a small step, back to the table, but allowing that imbecile to think he had won, was enough to steady Sheldon's resolve. He took a deep breath and pulled Penny out on to the dance floor and away from lingering gazes. The moment Sheldon found a suitable space, his confidence dissipated and the strong base filled his ears, as he looked nervously down at Penny. "It appears I didn't fully think this plan through. I don't know how to dance like this, nor do I have any desire to attempt to dance in this manor." He said as he waved his hands at the couples 'dancing' around him.

'Darlin''. The way he had said that was stuck on repeat in her mind. His voice dripped with southern warmth and she filed away the memory for later. She had hardly been paying attention to what he was saying, but she did notice the sudden lack of confidence, as he explained that he didn't know how to dance that way. Penny couldn't deny that the idea of him trying to dance with her like that, made her feel slightly awkward. The music morphed into something slower and softer and she looked up at him, trying to hold his restless gaze. "Could you dance to this?" she hesitantly asked as he looked around and nodded his head. She carefully stepped closer to him and invaded his precious personal space, as she took his large hands in hers and carefully placed them on her waist. She watched as he shuddered at the contact and knew he was desperate for the song to be over.

Penny leaned into him and gently placed her hands around his shoulders "Is this is okay? We can stop if you want?" she forced herself to ask, despite the fact that she never wanted to let go. "Its fine, what's next?" he asked through a slightly clenched jaw. She started to move slightly and felt as he hesitantly took over the motion. It felt natural to bury her head in the crook of his neck, so she did. She felt his pulse jump in his neck and wondered if maybe she should pull back, as she felt him go rigid and briefly stopped their movement, before he continued to sway them to the music. "There is absolutely no structure to this dance, Penny" he spoke into her ear, as the music was still very loud. She shivered as his hot breath hit the shell of her ear and she shook her head against his throat.

Maybe she could just press her lips against his skin and- Stop it! Sheldon has just rescued me from that drunk ass guy, do NOT try _anything_, she told herself and tried to shake of the thought. "You know, when you stood up, I thought you were going to fight that creep. You looked so confident." She said as she spoke into his shoulder. "Hardly. You may not have noticed, but I'm not exactly the definition of physical strength. My chosen arena of battle, is in the mind and I highly doubt that fool would even stand a chance, should I be inclined to engage him in battle." He said as he pulled away to look her in the eyes. "Right, how could I forget that the great Sheldon Cooper doesn't do confrontation." She dryly said, as she placed her head back on his shoulder. The song ended and she reluctantly removed herself from his arms and stepped away from him. She looked up to thank him, but he looked confused, which made Penny frown lightly at him. "Come on sweetie, are you ready to go?" she asked quietly and Sheldon nodded, lost in thought.

Howard watched as Sheldon lead Penny out to dance and he turned to Bernadette with a huge grin on his face. That lucky duck, he doesn't even realize what could have if he just opened his damn eyes, he thought as he shook his head. Bernadette was poking him in the ribs "Howie, look!" she excitedly said as she pointed toward Sheldon and Penny who were wrapped in a tight embrace, while they slow danced. Howard couldn't help but fan girl a little, at the sight in front of him. He quickly pulled out his cell and snapped several pictures and turned to show them to Bernadette, who was kneeling on her seat, to get a better view of them. Howard turned to the dazed man, who had asked Penny to dance and clapped his back.

"Dude, you have no idea what you've just done, but thank you so much" Howard said appreciatively as the man turned to look him. "Whatever, I just wanted to dance with her." he slurred as he turned to look at Bernadette. "Don't even think about man, that's my wife." Howard quickly warned as he caught the man, staring at Bernadette and he turned around and headed back toward the bar. Sheldon and Penny came back to the table, both looking a little dazed, as Sheldon crawled into the booth and scooped up Penny's purse and handed it to her. Sheldon glanced down at his watch and turned around to look down at him "Its past my bed time, lets go" Sheldon said, seeming more like his whacky old self.

Howard sighed and fished his car keys out of his pocket and started walking to the door with Sheldon close behind, while the girls lingered behind to quickly chat, before they made their way out to his car. Bernadette slipped into the passenger side, leaving Sheldon and Penny in the back, both lost in thought. He took Bernadette's hand in his as he started the car and gave it a tight squeeze, before he pulled out into traffic. "Howard, please keep both hands on the wheel, I have no desire to die in a fiery car wreck tonight" Sheldon commanded neurotically from behind him. He shook his head and thought about what Raj's reaction would be, to the night's events when he told him and showed him the photos. Howard looked in the rear view mirror and glanced between Penny and Sheldon who were both staring out of their windows and he hoped with everything in him, that Sheldon realized what Penny was willing to give him; even if he didn't want it. No way was he going to wait for Sheldon to figure it out; he had to help him realize how much she meant to him.

**Amy is coming back for a good telling off. She won't be back next chapter, but hopefully the one after, but needless to say she won't be staying because as far as I'm concerned she ruined any and all chances to repair what she did to Sheldon. Up next, something that is long overdue from Leonard. Love you all and thank you.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

"Hey, where you been?"Leonard asked as Sheldon stepped through the door and carefully shut it behind him. "Sheldon?" he called again as, his room mate made his way to the kitchen, seemingly on auto pilot. "I was with Penny, she asked me to go to a club with her, since I refused to stay here with you and Leslie." Sheldon replied in a sharp tone. Leonard looked at the time on his phone and I told him that it was 11:45pm. "You were out late Sheldon. It's way past your bedtime. Besides I didn't invite Leslie over for _that_ reason; we were practicing a new piece for the string quartet. You didn't have to leave the apartment." Leonard laughed lightly at his room mate's logic.

As much as Leonard hated to admit it, he had missed Sheldon since his break up with Penny. He knew that he had over reacted a little and had come home and left a trail of destruction for Sheldon to find in the morning. When Sheldon returned his stuff to him earlier that night, he knew that he and Penny were over for good this time and he wanted to talk to her and apologize. He hoped that by some miracle he could salvage a small part of what had once been a great friendship – with both Penny and Sheldon.

Guilt twisted at Leonard's gut and he raised his head to look at Sheldon. "I'm sorry for what I did the night Penny dumped me, it wasn't your fault. I was just so angry and Penny seemed to be more interested in spending time with you than me. It does just… forget it, you wouldn't understand. I'm just sorry, okay?" he stammered quickly as he waited for Sheldon to respond. "Thank you Leonard. That apology is long overdue and you should know, that what I found the next morning caused me to have a panic attack. If Penny hadn't been home to help me, I dread to think what could have become of one of the greatest minds of the 21st century." He shuddered at the thought, before continuing. "However, I accept the apology. You may have your TV privileges back and I will no longer crush up bugs and put them into your food, when you aren't looking." Sheldon smiled mischievously as he explained. Leonard's heart stopped as he found out Sheldon had been putting bugs in his food. Again. "You put bugs in my fo-. I'm not even going to argue with you Sheldon" he cut himself and started to make a cup of coffee.

He knew he kind of deserved what Sheldon had done to him and it didn't seem to have any adverse side effects, for which he was extremely grateful. "So what did you do with Penny then?" he asked as he added his vanilla soy milk to his coffee. "Well, it was supposed to be girl's night, but Penny asked me to join her, however Howard was also there. We talked, Penny didn't get drunk, I was forced to pretend to be her boyfriend, we danced and then we came home. Now if you'll excuse me; I have to fill in my daily social interaction logs. Good night." He said as he began to walk down the hall way. Leonard hadn't really been paying attention to Sheldon's brief description of the night, but as soon as he used the words 'I', 'Penny' and 'Boyfriend' in the same sentence, his brain switched on and caught up with what he was hearing. Penny and Sheldon danced. Sheldon didn't dance with any one, ever.

Once he shut his door behind him, he began his nightly routine and quickly stripped out of his clothes, before separating them into the appropriate laundry hamper. He pulled out his Friday pajamas and once he was dressed, quickly slid into bed and fluffed up his pillows, before reaching out to his night stand for his note book and pen. Sheldon had began recording his social interaction's when he was six and first started school, before anyone but his Poppop, realized just how intelligent he was. He found it helpful in trying to dissect the other children's interaction with him and each other. He flipped open a new page and began to record the days event.

_Sheldon's log - Stardate: 67584.7_

He quickly wrote down all of the days most important and confusing interaction's, so that he could analyze them on Sunday night. One particular entry caught his eye as he reread what he wrote.

_Penny and I danced together. It was odd; there were no choreographed steps and we stood far to close together, to be healthy. Penny placed her head against my shoulder as we danced and I noticed that her hair smelt of Coconut instead of the Green Apple scent, which I much prefer. Perhaps the most disturbing event today was that, despite Penny's close proximity as we danced, I didn't have the desire to separate myself from her immediately, although I will take an extra long shower tomorrow to remove any pathogens she may have breathed on to my skin._

Sheldon furrowed his eyebrows, as he read the entry again and again. He couldn't understand why he felt the need to write about Penny's shampoo. He groaned and quickly pushed the note book away from him, before reaching to turn of his light as he cocooned himself in his blankets, before finally closing his eyes and going to sleep.

Penny flopped down on her bed, fully clothed after she entered her apartment and thought about what had happened. Sheldon had willingly danced with her at the club and it had taken every ounce of her limited self control, not to just plant one on him, right there and then. She took the pins out of her hair and quickly shook it out, so that she didn't get a bobby pin headache and kicked of her shoes, before curling on her side and falling into a deep sleep.

Penny woke up to her door knocking. She threw back the covers and looked at her alarm clock. Not even 10am and someone was already knocking at her door. She growled as her feet hit the cold, hardwood floor and she ducked under the bed looking for her slippers. The knocking started up again as she pulled on her robe. "Hold on, I'm coming!" she all but snarled as she made her way through the apartment. She pulled the door open, with the intent of actually punching who ever it was, in the throat. "WHAT DO…oh Leonard…"she said in a surprised tone. He lifted his head slightly and seemed to have a soft apologetic smile on his face. "Hi, look I know it's early and things between us have been… horrible, but do you think we could talk for minuet?" he asked nervously as he wrung his hands. She paused and looked at him thoughtfully before saying "Okay, come in." as she moved aside and motioned for him to take a seat. She moved past him after she closed the door and went to sit on the couch and looked pointedly at the empty spot next to her. He sat down and quickly took his glasses off and wiped the lenses on his shirt, as if he was buying time or didn't know what to say. Penny refused to break the silence, so she waited for him to stop fidgeting and start talking. He seemed to realize this and let out a huff of air.

"Look, I'm sorry. You were right about everything you said that night; I just didn't want to hear you saying it." He quietly said. Penny was momentarily shocked at his apology. When she opened the door to him, she thought he was going to give her an empty apology in the hopes of getting back with her. He continued talking "you've always been a good friend to me – to all of us – and I know that I shouldn't have asked you out again, but I was just being a typical guy; thinking that you'd come running whenever I called. I'm so sorry for everything I said that night, I let my jealousy get the better of me and then when Sheldon gave me all my stuff back last night, I knew that we were defiantly done this time. I really don't want to loose one of the best friends I've ever had, because I was stupid enough to risk the friendship in the first place. Do you think you could forgive me?" he asked shyly, as he met her eye for the first time since he started talking. Penny didn't know what to think as she looked at him. That had been the most sincere he'd ever been, since she knew him and she felt a little overwhelmed. "Leonard… I don't know what to do here. You really hurt me that day, with everything you said and I don't know how we're supposed to move past that, if that's what you really think of me. I mean, I know I'm not innocent in all of this. I should have told you I didn't love you as soon as I realized it, instead of staying with you, hoping you wouldn't notice. I'd like to try being friends again, but it's not just going to happen over night. I need time to think and so do you." She cautiously explained to him.

He frowned and pursed his lips. "Can I ask you one thing?" he asked, suddenly sounding confident as Penny nodded yes. "What you said… about being in love with someone else. Is that true? Where you cheating on me?" he carefully asked as he cast his eyes down. "Yes, I think I'm in love with someone else, but I never cheated on you. This guy doesn't even know how I feel about him and even if he did, he still wouldn't want me." Penny quietly told him. She suddenly gasped as Leonard reached for her hand and took it in his. "He's an idiot if he doesn't want you. Why don't you just tell him?" he said, with the same sincerity he used to apologize. Penny dropped her head and chuckled at Leonard's last statement. "It's not that simple. He's…" she trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence and shrugged her shoulders. She coughed to hide her embarrassment and for the first time since she realized how she felt, she felt guilty. If Leonard ever found out whom it was she could be in love with, it would destroy him.

"I'm sorry I hit you. I'm not sorry for why I did it, because you deserved it and to perfectly honest with you; you came so close to being dragged out of here in a body bag. I'm just sorry that it had to come down to violence." She said as she glanced at his right cheek. The bruise was mostly gone and only faintly yellow, in a few places. She could only imagine what people at work had said about it. He lifted his hands to stop her talking. "I was way out of line and I know I deserved it. Just so you know, I apologized to Sheldon too, you know, for the mess. He said he was going to stop putting bugs in my food now, so I guess were good." Penny couldn't help but laugh "He told you, huh?" she said as she continued to laugh at Leonard's shocked expression. "You knew?" and Penny nodded her head, still laughing. Leonard let out a sarcastic laugh as he thought about the two of them plotting revenge against him. Penny stopped laughing and shook her head. "So, girl's night with Sheldon?" Leonard asked curiously and Penny was grateful for a slightly less awkward conversation topic.

"Well it wasn't exactly girl's night. Howard came with Bernadette, so it was the four of us." Penny explained and Leonard quirked an eyebrow. "No Amy?" he innocently asked. "I haven't spoken to her in weeks" Penny said, with just enough bite in her tone that she hoped Leonard would realize she didn't want to talk about it. "Oh. So you and Sheldon danced?" he asked, with a cocky smile on his lips, which caused Penny to blush slightly and narrow her eyes at him. "Did Sheldon tell you?" she nervously asked and Leonard nodded. "He rescued me from a sleaze ball, by pretending to be my boyfriend. Although I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done it if the three of us, hadn't kicked him in to it…literally kicked him into doing it." She added with a roll of her eyes, which caused Leonard to laugh. "Well, its Saturday so if you don't have plans, you're more than welcome to come and eat pizza and watch a movie with us." He said cheerfully as he stood up and made his way to the door, but quickly turned around. "Oh I almost forgot. Here are your things back, I think I got it all, but if I find anything else I'll let you know." He said with a smile as he held out the bag he had brought over with him. She took it and returned his smile as she waved goodbye as he headed out the door.

Penny blew out an exaggerated breath and leaned back on the couch. Never in a million years, would she have expected Leonard to be so apologetic and understanding. She knew they had a long road of recovery ahead of them, but it was a start. The guilt that twisted her insides earlier, twisted again at that thought. Penny started to think, that maybe should have just left things as they were with Leonard, instead of trying to be friends again, as it would make it that much harder on him, if he found out. At 7.45, she made her way down to the laundry room and found Sheldon already down there, leaning against his regular machine, with a physics magazine in his hands. "My, my. Down here a little early tonight aren't we Sheldon?" she dryly commented, causing Sheldon to look up from his book. "I had an extra load of laundry tonight and I had to make time for another pre soak." He explained with a gentle shrug of his shoulders.

Penny opened the lid to the washer she wanted to use and tipped all her clothes in. she caught Sheldon's face spasm as he watched her from the corner of his eye and his shoulders slumped forward in defeat."Good grief Penny. I can not go on, week after week, watching you wash your clothes this way. Move over so I can show you how to do it." He said resolutely as he nudged her aside with his boney hip and reached into the machine and began pulling her clothes out, before separating them into different piles. "Feeling brave tonight Sheldon? You don't have gloves on while you touch my dirty clothes." Penny said teasingly and smiled as she saw a shiver run through Sheldon's body. He turned to her and snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, making him look like he was about to perform surgery. He waved her closer to him, so she could stand and watch what he did, before returning the clothes to separate machines to be washed.

They stood in silence for several minuets as Sheldon began to read his magazine again. After a little while Penny started to talk to fill the comfortable silence. "I didn't get to thank you for coming last night and for the dance… and being my hero again." She said shyly "Mmhm" he replied absentmindedly, still reading his magazine, before lying it down on the table. "You're welcome, although, I fear I didn't really have a choice in being your hero. You, Howard and Bernadette have all been issued a strike, for inflicting injury upon me. While I admit I don't enjoy dancing, I found that dancing with you, wasn't as horrible as I would have imagined." Sheldon said thoughtfully. "Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel special don't you?" she said sarcastically, while inside she was doing a happy dance, that Sheldon hadn't minded dancing with her.

Once their clothes had dried, Sheldon took out his flip and fold and quickly folded his clothes; into neat little piles before putting them back in his basket, while Penny haphazardly balled her laundry up. Sheldon turned to look at her, with real concern etched on his face, as if he was questioning her sanity and it reminded her of when she made him sing soft kitty, when she slipped in the shower. "Oh, am I doing this wrong as well? By all means, show me the 'correct' way." She said scornfully. He took her clothes out of the basket and began explaining how it was done, using his little board to give a demonstration. "Now you try. Ah, ah, ah. How will you learn, if you don't try?" he chastised as she began to whine and protest. She gave a low growl as she moved to put a T-shirt down on the board and began folding, under Sheldon's scrutinizing gaze. "Wrong, wrong and wrong. Here" he said exasperatedly as he moved to stand behind her, forcing her closer to the table edge as his chest pressed against her back and he took her hands to control her movements.

Penny's breath hitched in her throat and she could hear her pulse, pounding in her ears as he spoke into her hair, as he had the night before. He moved her hands as he spoke and goose bumps broke out over every inch of her flesh, as his soft long fingers guided hers. She had stopped listening to what he was saying; he could have been revealing he was a murderer and she wouldn't have cared. She could only concentrate on the feel of his warm, lean body pressed up against hers and the way his chin, brushed softly across her shoulder as he spoke. Penny arched into him ever so slightly and felt her ass, meet with his pelvis and she sighed as she felt more of his weight against her. Suddenly she was reminded of the pottery scene form _ghost_, but instead with laundry and she let out a nervous girly laugh as she blushed. "There is nothing funny about incorrect laundry care." Sheldon said, in a rough stern voice, which was almost enough to stop Penny's laugh and make her belly quiver.

"Sorry. It's just that, with you standing behind me like this, guiding my hands, it reminded me of the pottery scene from _ghost." _she said as she giggled again. She felt his chest expand against her as he sighed and stepped away from her, forcing her to try and hold back a whimper of disappointment. "I was simply trying to show you how to fold your laundry and that was the optimum way of doing so." He explained in his usual detached way. He turned back to look at Penny "What's _ghost_?" he asked confidently. Penny whipped her head around to look up at him. "Seriously?! You've never seen it… look who I'm talking to; of course you've never seen it. Monday night, your place 7pm. You and me are watching it. No complaints." Penny said warningly as he tried to refuse. Sheldon picked up his basket and Penny followed him up the stairs. "Well goodnight Penny" he said as he reached for his door handle. "I'm actually coming over in, like 20 minuets for dinner and a movie…Leonard apologized and said he wants to try being friends again." Penny cheerily said as she opened her own door.

She heard Sheldon sigh happily "Oh good. That means things can finally go back to the way they were." He said, as she stepped into her apartment. "Things are never going to be the way they were Sheldon." She sighed, not really sure who she was talking about in that moment and began to shut her door. "Penny wait. Please don't use Coconut shampoo; I have a very delicate sense of smell and I find your Green Apple shampoo much more appealing and relaxing, it's also a smell I've come to associate with you and I would hate to have to try and readjust to it." He said quickly and matter of factly as Penny blushed delicately. She stood in her door way for several seconds after he had gone inside, before quickly throwing down her basket and dashing to the shower, to wash her hair. If Sheldon preferred her to smell like Green Apple shampoo, then she would use it for the rest of her life.

**Okay, things are starting to change now, even if Sheldon doesn't know what these changes mean. Don't get too attached to nice Leonard, we all know he's gonna get all pissy if and when he finds out what's happened. I know I'm taking a really long time to get these two together, but I've kinda taken personal experience and wove it into the story. I mean, sure I've never lived next door to a crazy intelligent, brilliant, extremely attractive guy. But I did fall for my best friend and I was petrified of telling him how I felt and I took me forever to finally tell him, because I was so scared of it going wrong (Which it did, after nearly 3 years, so I lost my best friend). I don't know how much longer I'm going to take with these two, because once again, I refuse to rush them, but if they do get together, it's not going to be all rainbows and unicorns. I mean this is Sheldon, were talking about here, and being in that kind of relationship means admitting he was wrong and he too has those…urges and needs, that plague us lower evolved creatures. Once again love reading your reviews. Keep em coming and enjoy. Love you all!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Penny timidly knocked on the door of 4A and poked her head in. "Hey guys! Is the Pizza here yet?" she asked, her eyes scanning the room for the food. "No, not yet. I just ordered them." Replied Leonard, with a bright smile, as he spun around in his desk chair. Penny carefully smiled back at him, still not 100% sure if she was completely ready, to try and be friends again. She took her customary seat in between Howard and Sheldon and pursed her lips at what they were watching, as she tried to figure it out. "Um… what the hell are you watching?" she said as she turned to Sheldon, with a questioning gaze. He turned in his seat and looked at her in disbelieve. "You're good naturedly ribbing me, aren't you?" as Penny shook her head at his question, he paused the TV and turned back to her with his hands carefully folded in his lap. Penny could see he was about to go in to a full on lecture. _Oh balls! I should have just kept my mouth shut,_ she thought to herself.

"This is serenity, the movie which wrapped up the painfully, short lived Firefly" he explained forlornly. The name sounded familiar. "Oh Firefly! Is that the one with the cowboys in space? With Nathan Fillion?" she asked excitedly. Sheldon pulled his lips in to a tight line and nodded tiredly at Penny's description. "Yes. Created by the brilliant Joss Wheadon." He explained as a glazed look washed over his face. Penny began to talk again, but an idea popped into her head and she had to hold back her giggle. She turned to Howard, who was sitting on her right side and quietly asked "Who's Joss Wheadon?" She may as well have asked who Santa was, as the four men in the apartment suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned in synchronization to look at her. Penny's eyes widened nervously as she looked at each of them. She had to do a double take at Sheldon, who was practically vibrating in his seat. She couldn't hold her laughter in any longer at the look on his face.

"I'm kidding, I know he's the guy who made Buffy the vampire slayer as well." She managed to squeak out, in between bouts of laughter. She laughed louder as the four of them visibly relaxed back into their seats and relief washed over their faces. "Sorry, I really couldn't resist" she explained, as she tried to calm down, while Sheldon unpaused the TV. Once the Pizza arrived, there was a brief but intense debate, about what to watch while they ate: Leonard, Raj and Howard voted for _Planet of the Apes_ and Sheldon wanted to watch _Lord of the Rings. _So, living in the democratic society that they did, naturally they watched…_Lord of the Rings._ Penny couldn't understand why the guys even bothered to argue with Sheldon, half the time. She had known him long enough to know that it was 'Sheldon's way or the highway' and almost all of the time, they would give in and surrender to what Sheldon wanted. Even she did it to some extent, but more often than not, she wouldn't simply allow him to have his own way, without putting up a decent fight. As they settled down into the movie, Penny's face scrunched up into one of boredom. "Ugh! This is ridiculous… trees going to fight some wizard guy, up in his little castle thingy" she mumbled under her breath.

"I severely hope that was another one of your 'jokes', because you are one more comment away from another str-" He cut himself off as he looked down at his phone. That action alone would have been enough for her to be concerned – Sheldon never cut himself off, in the middle of a rant- but what followed after was more concerning. "Oh no" he said, before quickly jumping off the couch and running awkwardly down the hall to his bedroom, leaving Penny gazing after him curiously. She flicked her eyes back toward the guys, who were all immersed in the movie. "Isn't anyone going to go and see if he's okay?" she asked, hoping at least one of them would pick up on her hint and go and check on him. When she got no reply, she grabbed for the remote to turn off the TV "Well?" she said, starting to get a little frustrated with them. Howard made a low grunt in the back of his throat "If you're so worried about him, why don't you go and see if he's okay?" he explained and snatched the remote away from her. She stood up with a sigh and turned to walk down the hallway, fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at them, like a 3 year old.

She knocked on Sheldon's door and waited. When he didn't answer, she carefully opened the door and peered inside. Sheldon was sitting on the edge of his bed, clutching his phone on his hand, his shoulders slumped forward. "Sheldon is everything okay?" she called from the door way. He wasn't listening so she called his name again, this time a little louder and allowing her concern to color her voice. He looked up at her with a worried, if not scared expression. That look alone was enough to make Penny step over the threshold of his room; rules be damned. She sat down next to him on the bed and gently asked "What's wrong sweetie?" He didn't answer, just angrily thrust his cell toward her hands and waited for her to take it from him. She frowned curiously as she took it and looked down as she tried to work out what it was that made him react that way. Her heart stopped and she could feel the color quickly drain from her face as she read it.

_Amy: Hello Sheldon, I think I was mistaken in trying to force intercourse on you. I reacted rashly and I think that I have been punished enough. We can continue our relationship as it was, however I demand more than just hand holding. I would have contacted you sooner, however Penny made it very clear that I was not to try and contact you. We can talk in your office on Monday, so that I can resign the papers of our relationship agreement. Amy._

Penny read the text over and over again and a knot of uncertainty began to twist in her stomach. What if Sheldon went back to Amy, despite saying he wouldn't? Does Sheldon want to be with Amy? The questions began spinning out of control and she tried to settle on the right one to ask Sheldon. Burying her own feelings she spoke up. "Sweetie, what do you want to do about this?" she asked nervously. He sat quietly for a moment, thinking, before he answered "I'm not sure" he said in defeat. "Well, do you want Amy to be your girlfriend again?" she warmly asked. That question seemed to make Sheldon come back to life and return to his old self. "Good lord no. I already told you that Penny. I just don't know what to do when she comes to see me on Monday. I despise confrontation." He quickly replied and Penny let out the breath, she'd been holding.

"Well, if you don't want to be with her, you're just going to have to tell her… even if it leads to a fight. You don't have to go along with what she wants, just to avoid arguing with her." She said softly, as she was reminded of having a very similar conversation with Leonard. She looked down at the text again and began to feel a sizzle of anger, bubbling under her skin as she read it. She couldn't believe how assuming Amy had been about, getting back together with Sheldon and it touched a nerve, having recently broke up with Leonard for a very similar reason. She made a disgusted noise as she handed the phone back to Sheldon and carefully stood up, but Sheldon's long fingers grasped her wrist to stop her leaving.

"Penny wait… will you come with me on Monday?" he asked, his eyes desperately pleading with her. She swallowed deeply as she looked down at his large hand on her. "Wouldn't you rather have one of the guys with you?" she said, hoping that he would agree with her, and that she could then avoid seeing Amy. "No. Only you know why we terminated our agreement and I would prefer if it stayed that way. Please Penny… I don't think I can do this by myself." Penny's heart swelled as she looked at Sheldon's pleading eyes and how he had so sweetly asked for her help. She clutched at her chest and tried to talk, but Sheldon carried on speaking "You seem to be the expert at ending relationships in our little group, therefore you are my greatest ally" And just like that, the sweetness was gone. She shook her head and let out a small cynical chuckle. Her first instinct had been to say no, to let Sheldon try and figure this one out on his own, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She was suddenly worried that Amy would bully and manipulate Sheldon back into a relationship with her if, she didn't go with him, plus this gave her the opportunity to let Amy know, just how wrong she was. Sheldon still hadn't let her go, so with a reluctant sigh she agreed to go with him on Monday.

"Fine, I'll go with you. It's not like I have to work or anything." She told him sarcastically. "Oh good, then I wont be keeping you from anything." He smiled and let her go. She dropped her head in exhaustion; sometimes she thought, he just pretended not to understand sarcasm to help get his way. "Now get out. People can't be in my bedroom." He warned for the 100th time. She walked to the door and stopped when she noticed he wasn't following her. She raised her eyebrows and pointed her thumb in the direction of the living room as she said "Aren't you coming? We still might catch the end of the fight at Osgiliath" she said teasingly, hoping to lure him out, with her knowledge of _Lord of the Rings_. His eyebrows shot up so high, they almost reached his hair line, as he stood up to follow her out. He paused as she pulled his door shut and the two of them walked side by side back into the living room. Raj and Howard snapped their heads up, as they came around the corner and Howard nudged Raj in the ribs. "Everything okay guys?" Raj innocently asked, with a head tilt.

"Fine. I just needed assistance with something personal." Sheldon replied as he took a handful of popcorn from his bowl. Howard snickered "I bet you did and I'm sure Penny was more than happy to help" Penny turned to him, knowing exactly what he was trying to imply and he laughed behind his hand. Thankfully Leonard didn't seem to be listening to their quiet conversation. "Actually, Penny was reluctant at my suggestion at first, but I made a convincing argument and she agreed to participate." Sheldon carefully told him, in between bites of popcorn. She slapped her palm to her forehead in embarrassment. _Oh God, he's making it worse,_ she thought as she felt her cheeks warm. This caused Howard and Raj to giggle like little girls. They were beyond dead! "Let's just watch the movie, shall we?" she told them frostily and shook her head warningly at them, hoping the look on her face would be enough to shut them up for the rest of the night.

* * *

After an extremely heated argument with her manager on Sunday about not being able to work the next day, she had nearly been fired. Sheldon had promised to come and wake her up at 6.30 and he didn't disappoint. He let himself into her apartment and Penny woke up to him standing over her, gently knocking on the wall above her head. If she hadn't have been expecting him, she knew she would have screamed. She stretched out under her blanket and began to already regret allowing Sheldon to come and wake her up, as she practically fell out of bed, on the way to make a coffee. "Good morning Penny. I trust you had a pleasant and restful sleep?" Sheldon enquired, in a far too happy tone, considering the time of day. She grunted at him unhappily as she moved to the kitchen, dragging her feet as she went. A mug of coffee was already sitting on the island and if she would have had the energy she would have turned around and thanked him, but instead she lifted the mug and pointed to it, hoping Sheldon would understand what she meant. The coffee burned her mouth as she drank it and very slowly she began to feel herself waking up.

Sheldon was standing by the couch, looking around the apartment and she could tell he was itching to clean it; in fact she was surprised he hadn't already started picking things up and putting them in back where they belonged. "Thanks for getting me up. You can go back to your apartment and get ready now. I promise I won't go back to sleep." She lazily told him, her eyes drooping heavily. "Be that as it may, I'm getting ready here today to keep you to my schedule" he said as he folded his pajama clad arms behind his back, with a smile. She whined a little but allowed him to stay "Whatever." She said, as she brought her mug back up to her lips and he smiled proudly, before bending putting several bags, down on the counter. He pulled out a carton of milk, a box of oatmeal, a bowl, spoon, a cup and a tea bag. He moved through the kitchen quickly as he started making his breakfast. "Sheldon, I know you might find this hard to believe, but I do actually own bowls and stuff. You didn't have to drag all this stuff over here." She explained as he poured water into his cup of tea.

"I'm well aware of that, but who knows what kind of bacteria you're breeding over here." He replied incredulously. She was about to remind him that he had eaten off of her plates before, but she remembered that he had thoroughly washed the plates before he allowed her any where near them, so she settled on narrowing her eyes at his snide remark. He took his breakfast over to the couch and started eating, as he watched something on BBC America. She picked up an apple and as she ate it, she watched Sheldon. He looked like the 30 something year old he was, not the over grown 6 year old she was used to seeing. There was a faint hint of stubble decorating his chin, that she hadn't seen before and his hair was slightly tousled and spiked. He seemed to be more relaxed first thing in the morning, than he did any other time of day and she smiled. Once he was finished he put his bowl in the sink and picked up the second bag he'd brought with him and started walking toward her bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Penny questioned him and he stopped just inside her door way. He pulled out a towel for her inspection and said "To take a shower." Penny frowned at him. "This is my apartment, don't you think I should be allowed to use _my_ shower first." It was Sheldon's turn to frown at her. "Penny, Penny, Penny. I always shower first, to make sure I have adequate hot water and plenty of time to get ready." He said as he carried on toward the bathroom. Penny giggled cruelly. Well good luck; I haven't cleaned the bathroom for 3 days, she thought to herself as she heard the bathroom door click shut.

He gasped in horror as he turned around to survey the bathroom; it wasn't condemnable, but there were toothpaste and make up blobs, in and around the sink and on the mirror. Deeply grateful he had thought to bring rubber gloves and disinfectant, he got to work cleaning everything in sight. He delicately removed a damp towel from the top of the shower curtain and quickly disposed of it into the laundry hamper, before pulling back the curtain; stuck to the bottom of the tub, was a wet band aid. He shuddered and dug through his bag for a set of long barbeque tongs, to remove it. Once the tub was sanitized to perfection, he turned the water on to let it warm up to the right temperature. He placed his clean clothes on the toilet lid and stripped out of his pajamas. He stepped in to the shower and first tested the water with his hand. Once he determined it was acceptable, he began washing his hair with his own shampoo, when suddenly the water turned frigid against his skin, causing him to leap away with a yelp, before it returned to normal. "Penny!" he screeched through the wall, knowing very well she had just the tap on in the kitchen and he heard her tinkling laughter.

He bent down for his shower gel and stopped, as he saw Penny's shampoo sitting on the side of the tub. Sheldon didn't know what possessed him, but he picked up the bottle and inhaled. He crinkled his nose. Something wasn't right; it smelt like green apples, but it didn't smell like Penny. Penny smelt like… something sweet, exotic and unknown, something he couldn't give a name; it was inherently Penny. The more he tried to name it, the more frustrated and confused he became. He tried to remember if she had always smelt that way, but he couldn't recall noticing it before a few days ago. He put it back down and turned of the water, wrapping his towel around his waist as he stepped out on to the fluffy bath mat, which tickled his feet lightly. He stood at the sink and set down his shaving equipment, before lathering up his shaving cream and taking out his straight razor and carefully gliding it across his skin, in long even strokes, just as he remembered seeing his daddy do. A knock at the door startled him and caused him to knick his chin. "Sweet Jesus! Penny why are you so insistent on frightening me… I'm bleeding!" he called harshly at the bathroom door. "Sorry, but if you want me to come to work with you today, I have to take a shower." She shouted back. He looked at his watch on top of his clothes. "I have two more minuets of my allotted bathroom time" he called back, as he began to pull on his clothes

"Well hurry up. It's going to take me at least 45 minuets to get ready." She said, with another tap on the door. "Patience is a virtue Penny." He replied in a reprimanding tone, as he pulled his head though his thermal. His eyes widened in horror as he realized, not only had Penny been talking to him through the bathroom door, but he had been conversing with her too. He packed up his things quickly and carried his shoes and socks to the door with him and pulled it open. "Strike 2. Talking to me through the bathroom door." He said as he moved past her to sit on her bed, to pull his socks on. "Hey you were talking to me too!" Penny reminded him as she stepped into the bathroom and looked around. "Did you clean?" she asked and Sheldon snorted. "Of course I cleaned. How else was I supposed to take a shower in there?" he said scornfully and bent down to tie his show laces. Penny stuck her tongue out, childishly and he fought the urge to reply in the same way, as he shut the door, leaving him in her chaotic apartment.

There was something slightly thrilling about stepping into her shower, where just moments ago, Sheldon had been. Naked. She flushed at the thought and pulled out a fresh towel. Pulling off her hello kitty Pj's she tied her hair into a messy bun and slid in under the spray. She relaxed as the hot water ran down her spine and she just stood there for a moment, allowing her muscles to unwind and loosen. She squeezed a generous amount of body wash into her palm and relaxed even further as the room turned into a vanilla scented sauna. Almost as easily as she relaxed, she tensed up again, as she realized what she had promised to do today. Her shoulders tensed and she was positive they would stay that way, until the day was over. Calming shower over, she stepped out and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and headed for her bedroom to get ready. The bed had been made and the scattering of clothes that had been on floor, had been folded with deadly precision and stacked neatly on the end of her bed. She tried to be angry at Sheldon for cleaning her apartment, but she couldn't as she knew it was something he did unconsciously. Once she was dressed in a pair of jean and a plaid, button down shirt, she loosely curled her hair and swept on a little mascara and lip gloss.

Once in the living room she found Sheldon leaning over the sink, meticulously scrubbing his bowl. "I already washed it Sheldon." Penny said as she moved up behind him to grab a travel mug for her coffee. "Not how I clean it." He told her flatly as he turned to look at her briefly. They worked in comfortable silence for several minutes just enjoying the routine and the company. She poured her coffee into the mug and moved back to the living room. I could get used to waking up like this, everyday with Sheldon, she thought to herself. A sudden cough pulled her out of her thoughts. "Ready to go?" she asked as she fished her keys of the table. "Would I be standing here with my jacket and bag on, if I wasn't ready?" he asked sarcastically. "Alrighty then, lets go." She said as she held the door open for him to leave. When they were half way down the stairs Penny spoke. "So… are you nervous about today?"

"I'm not nervous, why would I be nervous? I have nothing to be nervous about." He said quickly, stumbling over his lie. Penny stopped on the step she was on and tilted her head at him accusingly "Sheldon. Come on" she said, knowing he was lying. "Fine… I'm a little anxious that she might cry –you know how I feel about crying females - or that it'll lead to a fight. Or maybe she might try to and force coitus on me again." He said shyly. "She'd be pretty darn stupid to try anything with me there Sheldon. You just have to tell her you don't want to be her boyfriend anymore and let the chips, fall where they may." She explained as they reached her car. She held her breath as she turned the engine over and waited for it. "Your check engine light is on" Sheldon reminded her.

Penny thought it had become another one of his habits now, rather than just concern for his safety and she wondered if she got it fixed, would he miss not saying it. "You know, you're not so bad to be around in the mornings. I actually had a nice morning." She said as they turned on to Euclid Avenue. "Yes, well. It wasn't the worst morning I've had." He replied as he looked out the window. They drove in silence until Penny pulled up at the university. As they walked through the doors Penny spoke "So, when's Amy getting here?" she carefully asked as they walked down the hall. "I don't know, we didn't arrange a time, as I dint text her back." Sheldon answered as they turned the corner. "However, I took the liberty of purchasing several popular magazines for you to read, while we wait, as I can't have you interrupting my work." He explained as he unlocked his office.

Three hours later and Amy still hadn't shown up. Penny was sat in the chair across from Sheldon, as she read her magazine for the third time. Sheldon was busy pecking away at his laptop and Penny huffed out a breath. "Sheldon I'm bored" she whined, tiredly. "Not my problem" he said, not looking up from his laptop screen. She made an exhausted noise and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom" she told him, in case he was listening. "Mhmm" was his only response. She slowly walked down the hall, glancing at notice boards along the way, trying desperately to kill a little time. She had just shut the door to the cubical, when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

_Sheldon: Amy's here, my assistant is bringing her through now. Hurry Penny!_

She could feel the desperation in the text and quickly ran from the bathroom. She bumped into a dew people as she jogged back to his office, shouting apologies over her shoulder. She got to Sheldon's office and flung the door open, hoping that Amy wasn't already there. She huffed out a breath when she saw that she wasn't and dragged her chair around, next to Sheldon's. "Don't worry, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." She said in between pants, as she tried to catch her breath. She instinctually reached for his arm and rubbed it, in what she hoped he would realize was supposed to be comforting way. He turned his anxious gaze toward her and she smiled at him encouragingly, hoping he would understand that she was letting him know, he could do it.

Four quick knocks at the door, interrupted them and she nodded at Sheldon. "Come in" he called, his voice cracking a little on the last word.

**Okay, I know I said Amy would be back in this chapter, but as I was writing I got carried away with it and decided to leave it on a little bit of a cliff hanger. Don't worry, I won't make you wait long for the next one. Review and enjoy. Love you all.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**Really, really sorry guys. I didn't mean to leave you hanging so long for this chapter, but there's been so much stuff going on around here, that finding time to sit down at write has been next to impossible. I had a little trouble with this one, but hopefully it's not too bad. Enjoy and Review as always. Love you all.**

The door opened and his shoulders stiffened. "Dr Cooper, Dr Fowler is here to see you." Alex explained as she stepped into the office. Sheldon nodded and glanced over at Penny. She seemed to be relatively calm, her eyes trained on the open door. "Send her in please" he replied as he turned back to Alex and nervously gestured for her to come in. Amy strolled into the office and froze as she spotted Penny sitting next to him. "Hello Sheldon. I assumed that we were going to be alone." She said pointedly looking at Penny, before pulling out a chair and sitting on the opposite side of his desk. He darted his eyes to the left and Penny gave him a small smile, but still said nothing. He frowned slightly. Odd, Penny usually has no qualms about 'causing a scene', he thought to himself. "I requested that Penny be here for… assistance." Sheldon hesitantly explained, not liking the fact that he had been forced to ask for help, from anyone. "Oh, well I thought it would be better if we had some privacy, while we discuss the changes that need to be made to our agreement and it would be easier to that if we didn't have… outside influences, guiding our decisions." Amy said, trying to sound authoritative. Penny shifted in her chair, causing Sheldon to panic and he moved to stop her from leaving, but she brushed of his fear with a wave of her hand.

"Sheldon asked me to be here. He's my friend -" he cut her off "Best friend, as you recently stated" he quickly said before letting her continue. "Sorry, best friend. I wanted to be here for him and I'm sorry, but also to make sure you don't try and force Sheldon into anything." Penny calmly explained to Amy, who seemed to completely disregard everything that Penny said. She plucked a pen off of Sheldon's desk and waited patiently with obvious forced friendliness. "Shall we get on with it, then Sheldon?" He dropped his head, his eyes darting from left to right as he tried to come up with an excuse as to why he didn't have the papers with him, other than the real reason. The silence stretched out between all of them, making Sheldon more and more uneasy with every passing second. The atmosphere in the room was pregnant with unprecedented tension. Sheldon heard a resigned sigh. "Sheldon didn't bring the agreement with him, because…" Penny trailed off and he could tell she hoped he would finish the sentence, but he still hadn't settled on a lie. He could tell her that he forgot them, but she knew he had an eidetic memory, so it would be highly unlikely that he could simply forget something, plus everything was backed up on his laptop, so he could have just reprinted them any time. He was snapped out of his thoughts, as he felt someone pressing on the toe of his shoe –hard. He looked down and saw Penny's foot on top of his, before she tapped the side of it, encouraging him to go on. Sheldon whimpered nervously and looked up into Amy's waiting face.

"I didn't bring them, because I have absolutely no desire to reinstate our relationship, whether it remain the same or changes. What happened that day is unforgivable. Penny was correct in asking that you not contact me and I think I would prefer if you continued to not communicate with me." Sheldon briskly explained and exhaled deeply as the tension drifted away. He looked at Amy. Her mouth was gaping and she kept flicking her gaze between himself and Penny. Amy burst out of her chair and leaned over the desk toward. "What have you done?! You've turned him against me Penny. This is completely your fault: you were always telling me I had to take charge and tell Sheldon what I wanted and now you've ruined everything!" Amy shouted at Penny. As soon as the screeching started, Sheldon shut down. He wanted to leave – run as far away as possible, before the inevitable girl fight ensued.

Some dark part of Penny, had hoped that Amy would try and cause a fight with her and she mentally warmed up for it. She chuckled humorlessly: she knew that she'd get the blame for what happened. "ME? How have I turned him against you? We haven't even talked about you since I found out what happened, he figured all this out on his own. Okay, yeah I told you, you had to make it perfectly clear to Sheldon about, what it was that you wanted, but when did the words 'if he doesn't want you like that, force him to do it' ever leave my mouth? You can't force someone into having sex with you Amy. Did you even think about Sheldon and how he felt, that maybe there was a reason he didn't want that type of relationship? Or was it all about you, just getting some?" Penny shouted back, equally as loud as she walked around the desk and was toe to toe with Amy. She took a deep breath. "Sheldon is my best friend and I will be damned, if I let you anywhere near him again. Do you understand?" Penny said, trying to keep calm as she was very much aware of Sheldon bouncing nervously in his seat, as he was forced to listen to them shout at each other. Amy narrowed her eyes tightly and changed tactics. "You're just jealous. You are stuck in a dead end relationship with Leonard and you want everyone else to be just as unhappy as you are!" Amy yelled back at her. Not giving Penny time to answer she started again.

"You were the queen Bee of the group. You were so used to being able to wrap them all around your little finger, and then someone else comes along and renders you obsolete. You aren't the center of their universe anymore Penny and let's face it, they've all grown and developed, while you've stayed exactly where you are; a failed actress slash waitress, with commitment issues and no real prospects." Amy shouted harshly. Penny couldn't help but be shocked at what was coming out of her 'Besties' mouth. "You are freaking, kidding yourself, if you think I've _ever _been the center of their universe. Maybe Leonard's for a while – who, I broke up with, _weeks_ ago, not that it's any of your business – but I've never been more important to them, than their work or careers and I wouldn't want to be. I've never held any of them back and I wouldn't even try. This isn't about me Amy! This is about you and Sheldon and you can stand there shouting at me all day, but its not going to make what you did right" Penny shouted at her, her anger reaching new heights. "Being in a relationship means making compromises for each other. You didn't know Sheldon before, he has made so many adjustments for you, and didn't you think you could make just _one_ compromise for him, instead of ruining your relationship? Yeah, Sheldon shouldn't have asked you to be his girlfriend if he wasn't attracted to you, in the way you were to him, but what the hell where you thinking? You know what's worse? You don't even realize what you've done Amy! He could have had you arrested, you know that right? If you had done that to me, there would be no doubt in my mind, about pressing charges against you" Penny shouted, her anger still climbing.

"What do you know about being in a relationship? You never compromised for Leonard, you did what you wanted and let him make all the changes. You even told me and Bernadette that your only part in the relationship was letting him make you happy!" Amy said, her voice trembling slightly under the weight of Penny's rage. "I never said I was an expert at being in a relationship and maybe the reason I never tried to compromise with Leonard, because I never loved him the way he wanted me to and he never really loved me either. We both know if you loved Sheldon, as much as you say you do, there would be absolutely no problem, waiting for him to be ready, but you don't love him, you loved the idea of him. I mean, didn't you go out with Stuart because you wanted to have sex? We all know I've had my fair share of guys" she paused – 31 to be exact, as Sheldon liked to remind her on occasion. "But if Sheldon was _my_ boyfriend, there would be days when I'd gladly kill him while he slept, but I would wait until I was 60, if that's how long it took for Sheldon, to want to try and be in that kind of relationship with me." Penny's face was burning; somewhere between anger and chagrin as she let some of her own feelings slip into the argument. Amy snorted "Why would Sheldon or anyone like him, ever be in a relationship with you?" Penny's insecurities about herself bubbled up, as Amy reminded her of one of the many reasons her and Sheldon could never work.

The two of them stood close together, waves of anger rolling of them and crashing together in the limited space between Penny and Amy, as they refused to break eye contact and move away from each other. She turned her head and saw Sheldon vibrating anxiously in his seat; the last thing she needed was for him to have another panic attack. Putting aside her animosity and contempt for Amy, she walked over to the door and twisted the door knob "I think you should leave no- NOW Amy!" she shouted again as she tried to interrupt her. Penny opened the door and several people, who had obviously been listening at the door, straightened up and quickly ran off down the hall. She held the door open and waited for her to leave. She watched Sheldon stand up and walk around the desk to stand beside her at the door.

"Amy I would like you to leave now. As difficult as it may be to believe, everything that Penny said is right" Sheldon said quietly, looking down at the floor as he finished. Amy moved to just outside the door and Penny could see the anger, still evident on her face. "You didn't even try and apologize, because you're not sorry are you? You don't know what you did wrong do you? Stay away from me and Sheldon. I won't ask again" Penny spoke, just as calmly as Sheldon had done. Just as she began closing the door Amy shouted at the two of them "You know what, you both seem to understand each other so well and no one else would _ever_, put up with the two of you, why don't you just get together... you deserve each other. Have a great life!" she said coldly and sarcastically, before storming of down the hall way as Penny shut the door. Penny dropped her head into her hands and slid down the door to the floor. The adrenaline that had been pumping through her body finally stopped, leaving her entire body shaking as she came down from her high. She just sat there for, several long moments, while Sheldon stood over her. "I'm sorry I got so angry, I didn't want to shout at her like that in front of you, but she has no idea how wrong she is and… I'm sorry" her voice was muffled by her hands, as she still tried to catch her breath.

He stood over her and watched as she trembled on the floor, he'd felt incredibly overwhelmed as he watched the two of them fight. He had wanted to stop it, but couldn't; years of listening to his parents scream at each other, had rendered him paralyzed when it came to confrontation, so he had sat in his chair and watched, helplessly. Sheldon was exceedingly grateful, that he had asked Penny to come with him. He knew that if he'd have tried to do that on his own, he would have caved as soon as Amy raised her voice and would have signed the agreement again, no matter how much he didn't want to. As Penny apologized he felt a strange need to comfort her and thank her for her help. Sheldon carefully placed himself on the ground next to her and hesitantly tried to recreate Penny's action from earlier in the day, when she stroked his arm, in what he assumed was supposed to be a comforting way. Sheldon placed his hand on her arm and gently patted it. "There, there, everything is going to be fine. Sheldon's here." He spoke the same words, he'd used when she dislocated her shoulder. She looked up at him and he gave her, what their friends called his 'kill batman' smile. Penny laughed loudly, removing all the tension from the room, at once. She continued to laugh as she rested her head against his shoulder. He tensed up on impulse, but as he became more accustomed to her resting against him, he relaxed and accepted the contact.

"Thank you Penny. While your method wasn't exactly ideal, it had the desired result" he said stiffly, not enjoying the fact that he'd had to ask for so much help, from Penny recently. "No problem Moonpie." She said as she shifted and stood up. He sighed as he questioned his own sanity, as he thought that maybe he _was_ crazy, for what he was about to do. "Penny, no one but Meemaw calls me Moonpie… However, as a symbolic gesture of thanks on my part, you may call me Moonpie for the remainder of the day." He said reluctantly, from the floor. "Really? Thanks Moonpie" she beamed down at him. He had already begun to regret his decision and knew that Penny would use every opportunity to call him it. He stood up as he glanced at the clock. "Well, its time for lunch with Leonard, Wolowitz and Koothrapali. Would you like to join us?" he asked as he opened the door for them to leave. "Sure thing, Moonpie" she said with a mischievous wink, as she skipped into the hall and waited for him to close the door.

**I hope that wasn't too bad, but I kinda just wanted to get this out of the way so that I could get on with developing their relationship, without Amy hanging over them. It's going to be difficult enough without her presence anyway. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**Wow, you guys! Reviews for the last chapter were incredible… I honestly didn't think the chapter would be _that_ well received. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH. I'm giving you two today, I've had them for a while, so I thought I'd get them up. Things might be a little slow with the updates right now... having some family issues, which are kinda pulling my attention in every direction other than toward my writing. love you all and continue to review! **

Penny followed Sheldon to his table, where the guys were already seated "Hey, what's up?" she asked cheerily as she sat down next to Raj. They all sat, with wide eyes, looking at her suspiciously. "What?" she warily asked. "So what we heard, _was_ true." Howard said excitedly as he turned to look at Leonard and Raj. Penny raised her eyebrows, silently telling them to continue. "Oh. We heard that there were two women, screaming at each other in Sheldon's office this morning… it's all over the university. I should have known _you'd_ be in there." Howard said, as he folded his hands and rested his chin on them, challenging her. Taking a page out of, what was once Raj's book; she stayed silent, refusing to talk about it, as she didn't know how much they knew, from what they'd been told that morning. However, Sheldon it seemed, didn't get the memo.

"So, how about it Sheldon, what's this all about? Was it Amy too?" Leonard asked smugly, knowing that as long as he was asking direct questions, Sheldon couldn't lie. He seemed to completely forgo, even attempting to lie and told them the truth. "Yes, it was Amy. She wanted to return to our former agreement and I did not." He said tiredly, pushing his food around the plate. Penny watched as the three of them looked at each other, then to her and finally Sheldon. "Soo… what was Penny doing here then?" Raj asked and leaned back in his chair as Sheldon twitched a little. "I asked for Penny to come in today. It seemed to help with my cause." He said, as he gave her a cautious smile. No one spoke for several minuets and Penny enjoyed the silence as she picked at her sandwich. "Why did you and Amy break up anyway? All you told me was that: there was a difference of opinion, that couldn't be rectified." Leonard asked, breaking the silence. Sheldon shifted awkwardly. "Hey, it doesn't matter why they broke up. I haven't told everyone exactly why we did. Do you want me to?" Penny said quickly, as she jumped into the conversation in an attempt to save Sheldon. Again.

"No, but I'm just a little curi-". Leonard was cut of by his phone ringing and Penny tuned him out as he started talking science-y. He stood up from the table with a quick apology and an explanation "Sorry guys. There's a problem with one of the Argon lasers. I gotta go." He explained, as he picked up his tray and left, leaving her and Sheldon alone with the 'terrible two'. Thankfully talk quickly turned to the new _Mystic Warlords of K'ah_ expansion pack and Penny watched as the three of them argued, good naturedly. As there lunch was winding down and they got ready to leave, Penny stood up. "Sheldon sweetie, do you want me to wait and take you home? Or are you leaving with Leonard?" she asked as she moved to stand next to him. He thought for a moment before answering. "Would you be able to take me? I had intended to go with Leonard, but it seems he may need to stay late, to repair the laser."

"Sure. I'm going to look around… this place is incredible. Text me when your ready to leave, if im not already back at your office." Penny said happily as she began to stroll toward the doors and down the corridor, leaving the three men alone to clear their trays.

As soon as Howard sat down to work on a new piece of equipment for NASA, he started thinking about how; he hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Sheldon about Penny yet. Picking up his phone he sent a quick text to Raj.

_Howard: Wanna mess with the shelbot? _

Raj's reply was practically instantaneous. After he had shown him the pictures of them dancing, he had been completely on board with Howard's plan, to help Sheldon realize his feelings.

_Raj: YES! Meet at S office._

Howard tucked his phone into his pocket and headed out the door, to Sheldon's office to wait for Raj. He didn't have to wait long, as Raj came bounding around the corner, a bright smile across his face. "What are we going to do?" Raj whispered as they stood directly in front of the door. "Just follow my lead." Howard replied confidently and knocked on the door, entering before Sheldon had the chance to reply. "Hey Sheldon! What'cha doing buddy?" he asked, feigning interest. "I'm currently working on a new grant proposal for a new fusion reactor, since Kripke managed to completely destroy the other one." Sheldon said as he briefly glanced at them from behind his screen. "Mhmm. So anyway, what's up with Penny being here today?" Howard asked, cocking his head to the side as he waited for a reply. Sheldon huffed out a breath. "I already told you: I had a problem and Penny was helping me." He said as he gave them a tight smile. Howard perched on the edge of the desk and flipped through one of the binders that were sitting there, before turning back to Sheldon.

"You and Penny are spending a lot of time together…" he trailed of and Sheldon looked up at him. "Penny and I have always spent time together. I was under the impression that, that is what friends do. Now, would you please remove yourself from my desk." Sheldon said as he waved his hand at the chairs next to his door. With a sigh he slid off the desk and into one of the chairs. "Yeah, but hardly ever just the two of you, like now." Raj said, as he leaned forward in his chair, pressing for more information. "That's not true. We've spent a lot of time together with out any of you. In fact I can recall at least 32 accounts, for example: when she dislocated her shoulder, when I got locked out of my apartment, the day Alicia moved in and when we went to the train museum. What's your point?" Sheldon explained as he listed all the times they'd been alone in each others company. "And tonight, Penny is making me watch one of her tedious 'chick flicks'. One can only hope, it is better than the last time she tricked me into watching the _Lake house_." He continued and Howard and Raj, spluttered in disbelieve. "Wait, wait, wait, just back up a second and freeze. You're watching a movie with Penny on Klingon Boggle night? What are you watching?" Howard asked, his arms flailing around.

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter. I believe we're watching _ghost_. Penny and I found ourselves in a situation, in the laundry room on Saturday, that reminded her of a particular scene and she insisted that we watch it." He explained distractedly, flicking through one of the large text books, he had opened on the desk. Raj clapped his hands excitedly. "Which scene? The only really memorable one _I _ can think of is the pottery scene and I doubt you were making vases down there… oh you better have tissues ready for Penny, it's heart breaking." Raj explained gleefully. "Yes, well I'm sure I'll find out what she was talking about tonight." Howard's mind reeled. Sheldon's statement just left him with more questions unanswered. He turned wide eyed to Raj, who was bouncing happily in his seat. He hadn't meant to say it out loud; it just sort of slipped past his lips "Sounds like a date to me." Sheldon snapped his head up. "Don't be absurd. It most assuredly is not a date" Sheldon replied quickly. Raj smiled and nudged at Howard's shoulder. "Dude, it defiantly sounds like a date. You lucky dog; any guy would be lucky to date Penny." Raj said enthusiastically. "It's not a date. While I have no doubt that Penny would be perfectly acceptable to date, once you get past her caterwauling and her annoying personal habits. However, I'm not just 'any guy'." Sheldon said defiantly as he shut his laptop down and began packing his things away into his bag. "Where are you going?" Howard asked and Sheldon pulled out his phone, ignoring his question completely.

"Hello Penny… yes I know… no I don't use them…Penny, I need you to muster all of your powers of concentration – limited as they are - and listen to me… I'm ready to go home now… yes I'll meet you at the main door" Sheldon said and slid his phone into his jacket, before brushing Howard and Raj out of the office and locking it behind him, without so much as a goodbye as he headed down the corridor. Raj cringed a little as he looked to Howard. "Do you think we went too far?" Howard shook his head quickly "No. we had to plant the seed about dating Penny, besides it _does_ sound like a date." Howard explained as they began walking back to their respective offices. They walked in silence for a moment before Raj stopped him. "Can I see those pictures again? They make me want to cry every time I look at them" Raj said joyfully, making Howard chuckle sarcastically "Why don't I just get it made into a mouse mat for you?" he laughed, as they both looked down at his phone. "Oh, I can't wait for them to get together. They'll be perfect" Raj said, his voice trembling slightly. Howard briefly put an arm around his shoulder "Me too buddy. I don't know about you, but I plan on being there for their 'not a date, date'… I just hope Leonard has to work really late tonight." Howard said, before heading back to his lab. Since Penny had first told them how she felt, he knew that Leonard was going to be the fly in the ointment, the one thing that would make it difficult for them to be together. Tonight is going to be interesting, he thought to himself.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 **

Sheldon was silent the entire ride home, seemingly lost in thought and Penny thought it best to leave him that way, as she didn't want to interrupt what ever thought process was going on inside, that big brain of his. When they pulled up to the building and started to climb the stairs, Penny broke the silence. "Why did you finish work so early today?" she asked as they rounded the corner. "I didn't finish, however Wolowitz and Koothrapali were becoming insufferable to be around." He explained sharply. Penny wasn't sure she wanted to ask what they had done, but she did anyway. "Oh, what happened? Is it junior rodeo worthy?" she chuckled "I'd rather not talk about it, although that would be amusing to watch." Sheldon said as they parted ways at their floor and headed into their apartments. "Well alright. I'll be over later then…make sure you have popcorn ready." Penny called in a sing song voice, just before she shut the door. The rest of the afternoon flew by, once she was inside. Around 5pm her phone rang: it was her agent. "Hi, how are you?...really? You're serious?...absolutely. I'd love to… thank you so much, okay bye" Penny hung up the phone and did a fist pump. She had gotten a second call back for a little independent production that she had auditioned for months ago and completely forgotten about. While it wasn't exactly a big budget production, it was a start – ten times better than that, stupid Gorilla movie she did years ago. Penny did a little dance around the apartment. It had taken 7 years in a 'temporary' job, to even get called back for an audition, but finally things were looking up.

Just before 7 Penny skipped across the hall to 4A, armed with the nights entertainment and let herself in. "Good evening Sheldon." She said as she floated, dreamily to her spot next to his, on the couch. "Hello Penny, you appear to be in a good mood" he said with a small frown. "Yep" Penny replied, popping the 'P'. "Guess what? You'll never guess, I'm just going to tell you! I got a call back for a movie, I auditioned for months ago. Isn't that great?" she beamed up at him, not giving Sheldon time to respond. "Hang on, you can't just propose a guessing game, then not allow me time to guess. That defeats the whole object of the game" Sheldon complained, folding his arms across his chest, as he sulked a little. "You know what? I'm in such a good mood, I'm going to pretend I heard 'congratulations' come out of your mouth." Penny smiled brightly. She looked around the room for traces of the guys. "Where is everyone? Did Leonard have to work late?" she asked, her eyes wondering to the hallway. "Yes, it seems it could take all night, to repair the laser, but I assume Howard and Raj will be here soon." Penny noticed how his attitude seemed to change slightly, as he talked about Raj and Howard. "Is everything okay with you guys?" Penny asked, already knowing that they had done something to upset Sheldon.

There was an awkward silence, before he spoke. "Penny I have something I need to ask you… and it's a little uncomfortable" he said as he shifted in his spot. Penny turned to him and crossed her legs under her, knowing that it must be _really_ awkward, for Sheldon to pick up on it. "Okay, shoot" she said and waited for him to reply. "Is this supposed to be a date?" He turned his head to her and Penny blushed. "Why would you think that?" Penny stuttered out. Please don't let this be Howard and Raj's doing, please don't let this be Howard and Raj's doing, was her silent mantra. "Well Howard said it sounded like a date. I am not an expert in relationships, so I was only left with what Howard seemed to think it was and Raj agreed with him." Beyond dead. They would spent eternity in the deepest, darkest pit of hell, reserved specifically for them, Penny thought. "No, it's not a date sweetie." She said as she tried to control herself. "Oh, well that's good." Sheldon explained and returned to what he was doing. Penny had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom, so she could calm down. Once locked safely inside she text Howard.

_**Penny**__: Howard Joel Wolowitz! I don't give a Rat's ass, if Jews don't believe in hell, that's where you're going. You and your little girlfriend Raj are in for a world of pain_.

She sent the ominous text. When she got no reply she kicked at the tub, forgetting she had changed into flip flops. She toppled over, clutching at her foot. She must have shouted out in pain, because Sheldon was at the door, quickly knocking. She pulled herself up and hopped to the door. "What Sheldon?" she said harshly as she pulled the door out of her way. "You called my name, I came to see what was wrong" he said and Penny could sense he was unsure of the situation. "I kicked your stupid tub, that's what's wrong!" she said as she hobbled past him and back to the couch, grasping her toe as she sat down; it was already turning an ugly shade of red. Sheldon sat down next to her and looked at her foot. "Would you like me to take a look at it?" he asked curiously. "You're not that kind of doctor, Sheldon" she practically spat back, the throbbing getting worse. "True, however I spent many a day in the ER, as a child and could probably give you the same diagnosis, as any physician." He said confidently, as he walked to his desk to pull out one of the many, first aid kits he had around the apartment. "Whatever. Is it broken?" she asked as he sat back down next to her.

Penny shook her head, as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves and wiped her foot down with an alcohol wipe, before he began his examination. He poked and prodded at her toe and asked a multitude of questions, half of which had absolutely nothing to do with her foot. He walked to the freezer and wrapped a handful of ice cubes in a tea towel, before returning and placing the ice on her foot. "It's just swollen. You should alternate between ice and heat, to help reduce the pain and swelling." He explained, sounding like an actual doctor, not his kind of doctor. "Thanks. Can we watch the DVD now? I don't want to wait for the others." Penny asked as she slipped the box toward Sheldon. They had just settled down to watch, when the door opened and _they_ walked in. she followed them with her eyes as they sat down. "What happened to your foot?" Howard asked through a mouthful of popcorn, as he looked at her foot resting on the coffee table. "In a fit of rage, it appears Penny decided to kick my bathtub." Sheldon explained nonchalantly, his eyes following the action on the screen.

Not long after she nudged Sheldon in the ribs. "Here comes our scene." She whispered playfully. As soon as the music started playing, she shuffled uncomfortably, remembering what came just after the scene and she blushed, hoping Sheldon wouldn't read into her comparison, from Saturday. Normally, this was Penny's favorite part, but she just couldn't bring herself to watch it. She dropped her head and kept one careful eye on Sheldon. His eyes widened as the scene played out and then he too dropped his eyes into his lap. Oh God! What is he thinking? Penny thought, wishing for once that he _would_ talk.

When she knew it was safe to look up, she was met with a crying Raj, dabbing at his eyes as he looked at her. Pretty soon after, Penny was crying as she watched Patrick Swayze realize he was dead. She tried to stifle her sniffing and spluttering, as she wiped her face on the sleeve of her shirt. There was a soft tap on her knee and she looked up to see Sheldon holding a box of tissues toward her. She took a handful with a sad smile and blotted her tears. "Stop being sad." Sheldon commanded and Penny chuckled at his attempt to make her feel better. "Sorry, you'd think with the amount of times that I've seen this, I'd be used to it by now… but it gets me every time." Penny quietly told him, in between blowing her nose. "You don't have to be sad, it's natural. We're born, we grow, we die." Sheldon said matter of factly, with a shrug of his shoulders. Penny frowned

"What about all the stuff in between? Family, friendship… falling in love. Does that all mean nothing?" she asked softly. "Essentially yes. At the time it may seem important, but it isn't." He replied, his gaze shifting from the screen to her. Penny knew it was just the scientist in him, but she couldn't help feeling a little sad for him and his way of thinking. Penny laid her hand in the negative space in between them, as she turned back to the TV. Moments later she felt Sheldon's pinky, lightly pressing against hers. She swiftly looked down, thinking she was imagining it and to make sure she hadn't accidently let her hand wander, into sacred Sheldon territory. She went to pull her hand away, thinking it was a complete accident and he hadn't noticed, but Sheldon's long fingers crept over the back of her hand and squeezed lightly, keeping her in place. Penny's breathing kicked up a notch as she averted her eyes, trying desperately to forget that Sheldon was holding her hand, with their friends not 5 feet away.

While Penny had been silently crying, Howard had been looking at him with raised eyebrows. Sheldon frowned to him, trying to decipher what it was that he wanted and Howard mouthed to him "comfort her". Sheldon's mouth fell into a tight line and he narrowed his eyes as he shook his head. Howard shoved the box of tissues into his lap and he reluctantly offered them to Penny. Honestly, emotions truly baffle me, he thought to himself, as Penny explained why she was crying. When she was all cried out, some how her hand found its way into the tiny gap between them and he glanced down at it, not sure what he was meant to do, since he seemed to upset her more with his explanation of why crying about death was irrational. He looked back up at the screen and watched for a few more moments, before Howard somehow caught his attention again. He tilted his head in the direction of Penny, as if suggesting that Sheldon had more comforting to do and he scowled back at him. Since when is Wolowitz an expert in women? I've seen him get punched in the face, by a large percentage of women, before he married Bernadette, he thought with a frown. A pointed cough pulled him away from his train of thought and back to the situation at hand. Sheldon didn't know what to do; was Howard expecting him to put an arm around Penny and let her 'snuggle'? He shuddered a little at the thought. No sir, he would not being doing that. Using his scientific intuition and powers of reasoning, he decided that holding her hand for a moment couldn't possibly be that terrible. After all, he had already comforted her once today in his office, he reasoned. Slowly he placed his hand next to hers and steadying his resolve, touched his pinky to hers.

They stayed that way for a moment, but Penny began to pull away and his heart squeezed unexpectedly. He reached out to stop her and found his hand resting on top of hers lightly. He tried to relax into the situation, but he couldn't. Sheldon wasn't necessarily panicking about germs; although the thought had defiantly entered his mind, he was more curious about the soft, warm texture of her hand against his. His thumb brushed against her wrist, directly over her pulse point and it jumped in response to his action. He was intrigued; not just to her reaction, but to his own reaction to hers. He catalogued the sensations running through his body: elevated heart rate and a rise in temperature. Oh no, not again. Penny has made me sick, he surmised as he thought about whatever, new typhoid pathogen she had brought into his home. He quickly released her hand and wiped his palm against his pants, as he stole an accusing look at Penny. She was watching the screen, a small smile playing on her lips. As he returned to the film, he realized he was completely lost, he had absolutely no idea what was happening anymore. He shifted away, as far as the arm rest would allow and refocused on the DVD. It wasn't as awful as he first feared it was going to be… it was no _X – Men_ or _Star trek_, but it was acceptable. His mind returned to the pottery scene, or what he had seen of it, before he looked away uncomfortably. His perfect memory pulled up Saturday's 'laundry lesson' and he could defiantly understand why Penny had made the comparison of the two, but what did the following scene mean? Did she include _that_ in her initial comparison? Questions he never thought he'd have the need to ask were filling his head.

He was worse than useless at trying to figure people's emotions out, but Penny gave him more trouble than anyone else ever had. He couldn't always make her bend to his will, like he could make everyone else and she could sometimes get him to do things that had anyone else ask, would have been a resounding no. They argued, as his mother would say; like cat and dog, neither ready to submit to the other. He secretly enjoyed how they fought and the way it seemed to intensify, when ever she and Leonard attempted to be in a relationship. In his 33 years, no one had argued with him, the way Penny had, even when she was blatantly wrong, she still wouldn't back down. His heart squeezed again and he sat up straighter, worried that what ever Penny had given him, was causing him to develop some form of arrhythmia. As the credits started to roll he excused himself to the bathroom to take his temperature and start a precautionary course of antibiotics, in the hopes of stopping, what ever disease was currently rampaging through his body.

Penny stretched and flexed her muscles as she stood up to head to the fridge for a drink. She couldn't stop the smile and girly giggle that escaped her. She felt like she was in middle school again and had just held a guys hand for the first time. "So I take it I'm forgiven for what ever it is that I've done?" Howard called from his chair with a knowing smile. She turned back to them and pointed an accusing finger in their direction. "Not even close pal. Don't think for one second, you're off the hook. I told you not to mess with Sheldon and then he tells me tells me that, you convinced him this was supposed to be a date!" Penny said, gesturing to the room for emphasis. Raj tilted his head and asked "Wasn't it a date?"

"No, it was two friends hanging out, watching a movie." She told them quietly. There was a second of silence before Howard spoke again. "Well, we had to see for ourselves… I mean, if we hadn't been here, you might have decided to re-enact the _whole_ pottery scene, this time." He said, a smarmy grin slapped across his lips. Oh how she hated Howard, when he was like that, he'd gotten pretty good at burying the perverted side of himself, but on occasion he would crawl back out of his deep dark hole. Penny blushed and wondered what he meant. "This time?" she asked calmly. "Don't act dumb with me, missy. Sheldon told us what happened down in the laundry room on Saturday… not in so many words, but he told us. Besides, I saw you getting all cozy and holding his hand" He said with a suggestive wink and raj sighed dreamily.

"_He_ held _my_ hand. Not the other way around." Penny explained, trying and failing to keep the excited smile off her face. "You are welcome, by the way. I told him to comfort you, but I didn't think he'd do that, at most I thought you'd get an awkward pat on the shoulder" Howard told her. It took a little bit of magic out of the moment, that he hadn't done it completely off of his own back, but he had stopped her for what ever reason, when she tried to pull away. Penny shook her head tiredly; she knew they wouldn't be able to resist meddling, she had just hoped they could have held off a little longer.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 **

**Holy crap guys! I'm so incredibly sorry for making you wait, basically 2 weeks for this. By no means is this an amazing chapter (in my view), but it was just a little bit of filler before, something big happens. Side note: to those of you who saw the last episode of season 7, what did y'all think? I'd be lying, if I said I didn't get a little teary eyed at the end :'(. Keep the reviews coming… we're nearly at the big 100****–WOW. Love you all!**

To say that Penny was confused about what happened on Monday night was an understatement. She drifted through her work in the following days, not really paying attention to what she was doing; she was far too preoccupied. Her brain kept supplying her with the memory of Sheldon's hand on hers and how they seemed, to fit so perfectly together. She was constantly thinking about what it meant – if indeed it did mean anything at all. On Tuesday she had somehow tricked herself into believing, that it meant exactly what she wanted it to; however when they entered the cheesecake factory that evening, Sheldon was once again the detached robot man. Penny hadn't seen much of him after then, or if she did, he was always working away at one of his many overflowing boards, or scribbling incomprehensible equations into his notebook.

She began to wonder if Sheldon was ignoring her, when he let her win at _Halo_, without so much as a fight, before swiftly moving to his desk to work, not talking to anyone for the remainder of the night. To confuse her even further, when she snuck into 4A on Friday morning for milk, she bumped into Sheldon in the kitchen and he acted as though nothing had been going on for the past few days, even going as far as to give her a strike for her theft, before giving her a sarcastically apologetic smile. Saturday was Penny's day off and after spending her afternoon writing some bad checks, she headed across the hall, to her visit with the guys. "Hey guys, what's going on?" she asked cheerfully as she stepped in and shut the door behind her.

"Oh, hey Penny! Not much really" Leonard called from his chair. Penny frowned at his eagerness and turned to the rest of them. "Guess what, my baby sister Priya is moving back here permanently." Raj informed her excitedly, but kept a wary eye on Leonard. Aha! So that would explain Leonard's extra perkiness, she thought. Penny wasn't an idiot; she knew that if Priya hadn't moved back to India then she would have still been with Leonard, sparing _herself_ and Leonard from the pathetic mess that they called a 'relationship'. Sheldon groaned at the news and Penny knew what he was thinking before he opened his mouth. "There are 49 other states to live in… I'd be happy to help Priya choose another one." Sheldon moaned and continued. "Why does she have to move here? All this means is that Leonard will be attempting to engage in coitus with her. Every time she visits, she completely nullifies the roommate agreement… in addition, she's often mean to me." He concluded with a whine and crossed his arms across his chest with a huff, looking like a sulking 2 year old.

Penny couldn't disagree with him. She wasn't exactly Priya's number 1 fan and she was fairly certain that the feeling was mutual. "I'm sure it will be okay. If they get back together, then Leonard can go and spend some time at her place, since she has her own apartment now. Right Leonard?" Penny asked, not just for Sheldon, but for her own sanity. He nodded quickly, as if remembering the last time he tried to make Sheldon and Priya get along. "See, problem solved." She said with a small smile on her lips, as she wiggled herself into her spot. Picking up the remote, she switched the channel to some, reality show. She waited for the tantrum to come from Sheldon, demanding she put it back on Syfy, despite the fact they weren't actually watching the TV, but the outburst didn't come.

Penny really wasn't watching the show either. She was distracted by her callback. If she got the part, she'd be shooting in New York for a couple of weeks. A smile slipped on to her face as she thought about the film and her first really promising piece of work. "What are you so happy about?" Howard asked, giving her a smile. "Oh, well… I wasn't going to say anything to you guys, until I knew for sure, just in case it didn't work out, but I got a call back for film. Its just a little independent project, but it could be something good." She said quickly. The group burst into a round of 'congratulations' and she was pulled into a hug and passed around like some kind of giant teddy bear. Penny didn't even attempt to hug Sheldon, she simply moved back to her spot next to him "Sheldon, you didn't say congrats" Leonard said, in a reprimanding tone. "Oh, that okay. I kinda already told Sheldon a few days ago and he said well done… in his own way." Penny said with a little laugh as she took in his confused expression. She shook her head "Don't worry about it sweetie." She said, with a little pat to his knee.

He shifted away from her touch instantly and Penny bit her lip to hide her hurt. If he had moved away from her touch, even a week ago, she wouldn't have given it a second thought, but since he willingly touched her not 5 days before, the rejection somehow stung more than it should have. She caught the look on his face, when she moved slightly further away from him. He looked a little concerned, but the expression that won out was relief. "Hey guys, I'm heading out to get the food. I'll be back soon." Leonard said as he scooped his keys out of the bowl by the door. "Do you mind if I come with you?" Penny asked quickly, not realizing she had spoke until he answered with a soft smile and a nod. Penny smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. She had to get out of the apartment, get away from Sheldon for just half an hour, so she could clear her already overly confused head. As she started pulling the door shut behind her she looked at every ones faces: 2 matching expressions that clearly said 'have you gone insane? What are you doing?' and 1 look of…mild panic? She shook her head at all of them as she shut the door and walked down the stairs to Leonard's car.

Since his completely unexpected reaction to contact with Penny on Monday night, Sheldon had decided to spend as little time with her as possible, or if he had to, he would distance himself from her, in fear of his symptoms returning. He had made detailed notes in his journals about the experience and no element of the interaction was neglected. He recorded the texture and temperature of her hand, as well as his own reactions, such as raised temperature and heart rate. Sheldon had been increasingly cautious of contact with Penny in the days that followed and while he had been successful in spending as little time with her as he could, he still experienced minor heart palpitations or moist palms whenever she entered his eye line.

Sheldon worried about what was going wrong with his body to make him react this way, to a woman he had known for 7 years and never had felt the way he did until now. He knew that wasn't technically true. He recalled the day they all met Penny and remembered feeling the same things, but as he got to know her they lessened and then seemed to disappear completely and he decided that the most likely cause was nerves, from meeting a new person. When Penny had put her hand on his knee, he quickly moved out of her reach, as he didn't want to have a repeat of Monday night. However what he did not anticipate was the flash of hurt that touched Penny's features, before she concealed it, leaving him somewhat mystified as to why it seemed to upset her. It wasn't like he had never rejected her attempts at physical contact before, so why did she seem to be offended now?

Sheldon's confusion of the situation escalated, when Penny abruptly stood up and asked to accompany Leonard to pick up the food. Was she asking to go with him, because of what had just happened? Never before had Sheldon considered, needing or wanting to know the reasons for Penny's behavior. He had made peace with the fact that there were many things she did, that he would never understand and he was positive, Penny didn't always understand why she did certain things either. Sheldon caught the fleeting ecstatic smile on Leonard's face, as he opened the door and he wondered if Leonard was hoping that Penny might still have some romantic attachment to him, despite the fact that they had both decided they never really loved each other. A coil of nervous energy tightened in his stomach at the idea of Penny in a relationship with Leonard again and he was perplexed as to why, as he watched Penny shut the door.

There was silence in Leonard's car and Penny quickly realized she may not have thought it through properly. It was the first time her and Leonard had spent any time alone, since the break up and the car felt heavy and thick with tension. Penny wracked her brain for something to talk about. "So…" she said, breaking the tension and making Leonard jump slightly. "Priya's coming back. You must be pretty excited, you guys were… great together" Penny commented as she watched the buildings roll by. "Um yeah. I'm pretty sure she's already here, but raj won't let me see her until she's settled in and everything." Leonard told her as he focused on the road. Penny pursed her lips "So…are you going to ask her out again?"She quickly asked.

"I don't know, maybe. I'd like to see if we could work it out this time. Why am I telling you this? You're my ex girlfriend, this is weird right?" Leonard nervously laughed and Penny returned it. "It's a little weird, but it's not like we were ever friends or anything. Besides, you managed to pluck my guy drama out of me." Penny replied sarcastically. "Yeah. So how is that going? Does he know yet?" Leonard asked thoughtfully. "Nope, I haven't told him. He'd completely flip out if he knew. He's not, um, I mean… he's kinda complicated" Penny sighed and fidgeted in her seat. "Why? He's not married or anything is he?"

"God no. I'm not going be a home wrecker." She said and lightly punched his arm, making him chuckle, but Penny caught him rubbing at the flesh. "Why did you want to come with me? You don't normally" Leonard asked as they pulled up to the take out place. Penny lifted her eyes to the sky as she searched for an excuse. "Umm, I uh, just needed some ah…air. Yeah I needed some air – I've been cooped up inside all day." Penny explained and smiled almost too brightly at him, in the hopes he wouldn't see through her obvious lie. He nodded but frowned a little, as he held the door open for them to go inside. "Are you sure? You seemed a little upset?" he asked and Penny could see that he wasn't really sure about what was going on. She bit hr lip and shook her head. "No, just distracted thinking about my call back. I'm a little nervous." She lied, however now she thought about it, she was nervous. "Oh. Well done again. I' m really proud of you – we all are- even Sheldon, he just doesn't do feelings." Oh believe me, I know, Penny thought sadly. "Leonard. After 7 years of living across form you guys, I think I know that Sheldon doesn't do feelings." Penny said dryly.

"Right."

**Personally, I don't feel this is a great chapter, but I'll let you decide, it's only a filler and a little Sheldon insight. I'm going to get writing the next one as soon as this one is up, so I can reward you all for your patience with me and these two… something BIG is on the immediate horizon :P. Also go and listen to True love by Pink, I personally feel it captures these two perfectly. Love you all! **


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